Judy

Renee immerses herself in the role of Judy Garland, locking up her 4th Oscar Nomination, and likely her second Oscar win, 15 years after Cold Mountain.

One would expect that a truly legendary and iconic actress / singer / dancer like Judy Garland would be enjoying the fruits of her long time successful career, and the accolades of her adoring fans, who would be lining up to buy tickets to see her perform. Alas, Garland's life eptomized the Hollywood cautionary tale of child stars.

Despite massive talent, and amazing work ethic, alcohol, prescription drugs, bad husband choices, despicable studio bosses, and an even worse mother, gave her little chance to bypass tragedy.

Renee clearly did her homework, nailing the nuances of Garland's personality, trooper attitude, eccentric stage mannerisms, and distinctive vocals - The buy-in to Renee as Judy was immediate and never wavered.

Brief flashbacks take us back to production of "The Wizard of Oz" whose namesake himself couldn't save Judy from the Mother from Hell or the Boss From Hell (Louis B Mayer), for just the right amount of time to give the story supporting background fill.

This is largely a spotlight film role for Renee, fitting for the part of Judy Garland whose spotlighted roles carried films.

Renee delivers to the audience a still enthusiastic, but destitute and barely "functional alcoholic" Judy Garland who still has her trade-mark trooper-attitude pragmatism, but is desperately trying to earn enough money to just have a place to sleep for her children and ends up taking the only gig she can get (In London where her fandom still burns bright and large) that gives her hope to earn enough money to right her sinking ship, and retain custody of her children back in America after her 4th divorce.

Judy's final tragic journey in her life is a roller coaster of desperation and sad realizations.

Renee hits one out of the park (and over the rainbow) putting forth what is clearly the best Lead Actress performance of the year thus far, earning her a 10/10, and elevating 'Judy' to an overall 8/10. Bravo

There is not much happy going on here. The performances are amazing. Just to displease other comments... Mickey Rooney is in the movie twice. This is just a wow that somebody so well loved could have been so emotionally tortured by herself and other. Great work on the entire movie from cast to production.

I caught this film at this year's TIFF, and can confirm the raves for Renee Zellweger's performance as Judy Garland -- it definitely is one of the year's best. But I had problems with the film overall. There's just too much left out to make for a legitimate biopic.

The biggest omission: daughter Liza Minelli. At the time depicted in this movie, she was 23, already making movies, and on a career trajectory that would result in an Oscar three years later (before her career admittedly went off a cliff). But here she pretty much doesn't exist - only Garland's two later children do.

And when you reflect upon it, there's a lot more missing in this film. It also treats the period between Garland's Wizard of Oz/Andy Hardy MGM days and her final gig doing a London stage show in 1969 as a big blank, even though there were successes along the way well into the 60's, including two Oscar nominations and a Grammy award for Album of the Year. (Also a short-lived television show where she did a memorable duet with a 21-year-old Barbara Streisand.) Considering the range of celebrities she worked with, the opportunities for quality namedropping are limitless - but aside from Mickey Rooney, there's a pronounced lack of it

There are problems with inclusion as well. In real life, Garland had so many gay admirers that she gave rise to the "FOD" (Friends of Dorothy) acronym as slang for gays. In the movie, this angle is treated in very shorthand fashion by two completely fictional gay admirers of her London shows.

The film reminded me a lot of JACKIE from 2016, where Natalie Portman played Jackie Kennedy. Her performance was certainly Oscar-worthy -- and she did get nominated - but I had problems with the presentation, particularly how Kennedy's funeral was depicted as a national day of mourning. Zellweger is similarly a nomination lock riding in a flawed vehicle.

Judy Garland (Renée Zellweger) arrives in London in 1968 to headline a series of showcase performances. She is struggling with addictions, health problems, custody of her kids, and a lifetime of pressure to perform. Rosalyn Wilder (Jessie Buckley) is the overwhelmed producer trying to keep the unstable Judy on time. It doesn't help when Judy's boyfriend Mickey Deans (Finn Wittrock) arrives. He becomes her fifth husband and one more disappointment. In flashbacks, a young Judy (Darci Shaw) is under tremendous pressure from Louis B. Mayer to perform.

Zellweger's performance is terrific. Her only small flaw is her singing and that's not her fault. She is asked to embody both greatness and struggle. It's a high degree of difficulty. It would work better if all her singing is live and there is less of it. It leads me to the bigger problem of the structure of the movie. It should squeeze the movie down to her last two performances. The story has no ticking clock and feels meandering at times. The solution is to concentrate the timeline down to a couple of days. The opening with the kids can be better placed in a flashback. The best scene is the dinner with the gay couple and that would be a great antidote after the bad performance. It doesn't need Mickey's arrival and the quickie marriage. He's fine as the constant sycophant who disappoints. The structure flattens the emotional and dramatic tension of the film. Through it all, Zellweger's performance is terrific.

With Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland, you can not only feel her and see her, but you forget Zellweger is even there at all. Like many great performances, you see the character and forget that there is even an actor. Watching her performance is like watching a cosmic display. Some things are just meant to happen.

There have been many so-so bio-pics as of late, most comparably Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, in which another great actress, Benning, portrays the troubled last days of another great actress, Graham. Comparably, Zellweger's performance outshines the more renowned Benning. By contrast, Liverpool is also jaggedly uneven. That's not to say that Judy is perfect. Music bios are tough. Rami supposedly was great in Bohemian Rhapsody, but the film encompassed a superficial sentiment and lacked intellectual curiosity. Control, the Joy Division piece, is maybe the best in recent years... But Judy is right up there.

The story covers her last gig in London. The film uses flashbacks in order for the audience to understand her character. While most of those around her only see a washed up star, who was just forty seven.

What the story lacks in structure, it makes up with warmth. While this is a softer portrait, it still feels authentic. It finds no purpose in portraying her issues with callousness. Instead the narrative depends on Garland trying to understand herself, while making poor choice after poor choice. If you know anything about Garland, you know where she is going... But what you may not know, is she how she arrived there. It is a deeply sentimental portrait of a brilliant mind and troubled heart.

There have been some cynics saying that "Only a fool would try to play Garland." Dare, I say, Zellweger just made a fool out of you.

See this movie, it will remind you of yourself.