Diksha Sundriyal
In ‘The Judge,’ Robert Downey Jr plays the role of a lawyer who has to drop an important case and go back to his hometown in Indiana to attend his mother’s funeral. He’d left the town years ago and this is his first time returning, though he notices that a lot of things have remained the same. One of the places he visits is the Flying Deer Diner, where he meets an old friend, who makes him reconsider a lot of things about himself.
The Fictional Flying Deer Diner is Actually an Art Showroom
The events in ‘The Judge’ take place in a small town in Indiana called Carlinville. It is a fictional town, and the film was shot in a town in Massachusetts called Shelburne Falls. In the movie, the Flying Deer Diner, run by Hank Palmer’s ex, Sam (played by Vera Farmiga), is one of the central locations of the story, but it doesn’t exist in real life. For the exterior of the place, the filmmakers chose the Salmon Falls Artisans Showroom in Shelburne Falls. It is an art gallery that exhibits the artwork of several distinguished as well as new artists.
According to its website, the gallery “has showcased the beauty and craftsmanship of over 90 independent artists from around western Massachusetts and the surrounding area” for 35 years. Some of the artists whose works have been presented in the gallery include William Hayes, Lulu Fichter, Katherine MacColl, and Rebecca Clark. The place is owned by Josh Simpson, who is also an artist known for his work on glass.
The exteriors of the gallery are extremely scenic. However, when it came to filming the interiors of the diner, the crew set camp in a different building. The building, which used to be Mole Hollow Candle Co’s retail store, was used to create Sam’s diner. It was a perfect location because it allows a beautiful view of the Salmon Falls, which is also captured in the background of the scenes in the diner. Founded in 1969 in western Massachusetts, Mole Hollow Candle Co. is known throughout the country, with its products featuring at “independent retailers, gourmet stores, and grocers.” They now run their operations from Sturbridge, Massachusetts.
The film employs these two real-life locations to create the cosy little Flying Deer Diner, which is a regular haunt for the people of Carlinville. It also becomes an important location for Hank, who rekindles his romance with Sam even though he’d left his hometown twenty years prior. The reconnecting between them allows Hank to be more accepting of his town, which he had desperately wanted to escape when he was young.
Read More: The Judge: Is Carlinville a Real Town in Indiana?
