Judy product reviews

Before seeing this film, I actually had to look up the name Judy Garland to see who she was. Of course, she was Dorothy in the 1939 classic, The Wizard of Oz. Beyond that film, I had no knowledge of Garland's career, so I looked forward to rectifying that with this biopic, Judy, loosely based on the broadway play, End of the Rainbow.

The main bulk of the film begins in the year of 1968 and is an interesting choice considering Garland passed away in 1969. Structurally, from a narrative standpoint, the film is mostly linear. It does utilise flashback sequences, but it does so for very short periods, and it relates directly to the next scenes back in the 1968 section of the timeline. These flashbacks are hardly subtle in their message, but they are well directed, and their content is the most emotionally stirring components of the narrative, thanks to a stellar performance from Darci Shaw as the young Judy Garland.

The flashbacks have a stronger engagement level with the audience because the mains storyline has no real direction at all. There is a plotline revolving around getting money to buy a house for her children, but it is rarely brought up. The pieces of her life portrayed on the screen are chaotic and haphazardly assembled through some peculiar editing choices, but there is no overarching purpose beyond a general atmosphere of "doing well" slowly giving way to "struggling".

One could propose that Judy aims to vilify the film industry itself and its treatment of child actors, with events from Garland's childhood being directly associated with her substance abuse, as well as her physical and mental health issues. Unfortunately, like many of the other interesting questions that the film brings to mind, the topic is swiftly dropped and never referred to again. It is this jumping from scene to scene that prevents any development of character in the film, and as a result, Judy manages to feel both rushed, and slow.

On the other hand, RenĂ ©e Zellweger gives the performance of her career. Her singing, dancing, and overall display are phenomenal. Despite a slow and disjointed narrative that achieves nothing in its 118-minute runtime, Zellweger manages to create an energy that gradually builds until the climax. It doesn't justify the lacklustre quality of the plot, but it helps bring some genuine enjoyment.

Visually, Judy is well displayed. The cinematography is astounding, with smooth tracking shots, a warm ambience thanks to the lighting and colours, and some very creative shots that logistically must have involved some significant CGI, but is high enough quality that it doesn't show any evidence of it.

An intriguing character-piece that doesn't really explore the character all that deeply, Judy has some high points and some exceptional acting from both young and old Judy Garland portrayals, but it lacks a strong sense of purpose to fully hook you in. Some beautiful musical numbers to be seen, but it isn't enough to keep this reviewer engaged in what is going on.

It is human nature to feel that anyone in the public eye is a fair target for attack; entertainers, by the nature of a profession which encourages their audience to admire them, are especially open to criticism - and that extends beyond the stage to their personal life as well. It is all too easy to come down hard on those who have put themselves out there in the public arena. After all, they are asking for it so they deserve every last attack that might be directed at them. The movie Judy, which tells the story of the last winter of Judy Garland's life, aims to show the person behind the mask by exploring the motivations and influences that shaped her.

Throughout the movie there are flashbacks to earlier episodes in Judy Garland's life. Renee Zellweger plays the adult Judy while Darci Shaw gives a credible portrayal of the young Judy when she first gained fame as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz. The glimpses of Judy's youth are tantalising - I would like to have learned more of her background because so many of the things she experienced led to her troubles in later years. However, they are largely hinted at rather than explored fully; the one exception was the constant supply of drugs to keep her slim, energised, and able to sleep when necessary. The result of that was a lifelong addiction to both drugs and alcohol which inevitably affected her career in later years.

I had never thought of Renee Zellweger as a dramatic actor, but she carries the role of Judy with panache. Her appearance was altered to make her look more like Judy; the hairline was raised and the eye colour changed to dark brown, both of which made the portrayal much more authentic. And Zellweger can sing! While her voice lacks the depth of Garland's, it offers a fair imitation. It is also true that Garland had an operation on her throat some years before the London performance, and her lifestyle had taken a toll on her general health, so her voice was not as powerful in later years as it had been in her youth.

When I realised that Jessie Buckley (Rosalyn Wilder) was one of the cast, I was looking forward to hearing her sing - but hers was the role of Garland's minder, and there was no singing involved at all! A great shame as she has a beautiful voice; clearly the director decided that it was not relevant to the storyline. She is a talented actor as well, and I look forward to seeing more of her work in the future.

Some of the abuse suffered by the young Garland in the Hollywood circuit is eerily familiar, given the current state of affairs where there have been cases of historic sexual harassment against various politicians and other well-known personalities. Louis B Mayer (Richard Cordery) touches her heart in what can only be interpreted as a sexual gesture; on the surface innocent, but nonetheless highly suggestive. The chaperone (or minder) to the teenage Judy seems interested only in shovelling various drugs into her and withholding food: in this, she is just as sinister as Mayer. By contrast, the minder to the adult Judy (Rosalyn Wilder) is presented as a much more empathetic character.

Zellweger manages to infuse a great deal of humanity into the character of Garland, depicting her as a basically good person despite the many problems she has had to weather. She portrays her as a survivor, a woman who loves her children and wants only to get through her issues in order to get back to them. It would have been so easy to make this a film about a loser; instead, Zellweger's Judy succeeds in emerging from her initial disastrous effort into a second triumphant London concert. It is the gay couple who have believed in her throughout who now lead the audience in singing Somewhere Over The Rainbow when she falters, and bring the story full circle.