Judy Movie Review
This is not the first biopic about Judy Garland’s life. Nor will it be the last. This particular movie is about the later years of Garland’s life. The glitz and glamor of being a star has faded and reality and money troubles have set in. Judy (Renée Zellweger) has hit a snag financially. She’s in some serious debt and has burned too many bridges to get a steady gig in America. She’s worried about losing custody of her children, Lorna (Bella Ramsey) and Joey (Lewin Lloyd), to her ex-husband Sid Luft (Rufus Sewell).
With seemingly nothing going her way, she winds up getting a steady paying slot at the London nightclub, Talk of the Town. Assistant, Rosalyn (Jessie Buckley), is tasked with managing Judy and making sure she appears on stage each night. This task proves to be difficult as Judy is prone to mixing alcohol and drugs with her depression on a daily basis. We witness Judy’s incredible talent on stage as well as her personal battles off stage.
The movie tries to cram every aspect of Judy’s life into two hours, which is never an easy task. In addition to the professional side of Judy, we also get to witness a whirlwind romance with Mickey Deans (Finn Wittrock) as well as a strained relationship with her ex-husband Sid. The present day London gigs are broken up with flashbacks of Judy as a teenager at MGM. It is very well documented that MGM was not the best place to grow up as a child and that is put on full display here. We see Judy being spoon fed drugs, being denied her own birthday cake, and being bullied by Louis B. Mayer. Being a child star isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be and the movie does a good job of showcasing this.
The real reason to see this movie is because of Zellweger’s performance. She is truly remarkable as Judy. Her physique is spot on and the speaking voice she uses often nails Judy’s cadence and tone. My one qualm is that they chose to have Zellweger re-record the songs. Garland’s singing voice is so distinct, it’s very obvious when it is not her singing. Zellweger does her best with the songs (and I’d like to note that her best is very, very good). But no one can sing like Judy.
I wonder how much more impactful it would have been to have Zellweger lip sync to the songs instead. For reference, the biopic La Vie en Rose about French singer Edith Piaf, had its star, Marion Cotillard, lip sync and the result was magnificent. Despite this one nit-picky item Zellweger is phenomenal and deserved her Oscar win for Best Actress.
Overall, Judy is mainly a vehicle for Zellweger to show that she’s a powerhouse actor. The screenplay is mediocre and they tried to fit too many different angles into the movie. Despite this, if you’re a die hard Judy fan then you will most likely want to catch this one!
Film or Movie: Movie
You’ll like this movie if:
1. You are a fan of Judy Garland
2. You want to see a powerhouse performance from Zellweger
3. You don’t mind a lot of musical numbers
