Judy Review

Judy Garland was known as one of the greatest Hollywood starlets of her generation but died at the age of 47. The biopic, based on the play End of the Rainbow, looks at her final months.

The year is 1968 and Judy Garland (Renée Zellweger) has fallen on hard times. She’s broke, homeless, and forced to perform at low-end clubs with her kids just to make ends meet. As she reaches her lowest point, Judy gets a lifeline when she gets offered a lucrative contract to perform a series of concerts in London.

The story of Judy Garland is a tragic one – she seemed to live the American Dream but in reality was a victim of the studio system. It was known that Judy Garland had issues with substances and alcohol addiction and the biopic look both the roots of this as well as the impact it had on her later life.

The film opens with the young Judy (Darci Shaw) receiving a demoralising speech from Louis B. Mayer (Richard Cordery), the head of MGM Studios. It set up the theme of the film. Judy was deprived of having a normal life which was all she ever wanted. This was spelled out in Mayer’s speech when he asked Judy did she just wants to be a housewife? The scenes with Mayer were uncomfortable because there was a sexual undercurrent to them due to the way Mayer looked and touched the vulnerable teenager.

Judy agrees to do the concerts in London so she could save up enough money so she can buy a house and quit the industry. It was similar to what the Elton John musical Rocketman did where it set up its theme that the famous musician just wanted was to be loved.

Throughout her time as a child star Judy was forced to work 18-hour days, take diet and sleeping pills, had a restrictive diet and was basically nothing more than a performing monkey. As an adult Judy was dependent on pills, constantly drinking, and grew to despise performing, something that was meant to bring joy to the performer as well as the audience. It’s an all too familiar story of how child stardom can screw someone up.

The story of Judy had another storyline which was pretty obvious; she wanted to do what was best for her kids. But what she thinks is best for her children and what was actually best for them were two different things.

Judy was very much the Zellweger show. She was surrounded by talented actors like Jessie Buckley and Michael Gambon and Zellweger stood above them. Zellweger excelled as Judy on stage. At her best, Zellweger’s Judy thrilled the crowd, but when she’s on a downward spiral she’s a mess on stage. Even at this low ebb Zellweger’s Judy was able to joke and had a sharp wit. She was a woman who suffered from ups-and-downs – if Judy has a knock she hits the bottle.

A scene that combined Judy’s wit and tragedy was when she visited a doctor. She still joked with the doctor as he questioned her, but he points out she’s underweight and needed to take better care of herself. He was one of the few people to actually be concerned for her.

An early scene between Judy and her grown-up daughter, Liza Minnelli (Gemma-Leah Devereux) shows that there was some subtlety in Zellweger’s performance. Judy was passively-aggressive and distant to Liza despite Liza being polite to her mum.

Judy was lonely in London. This was highlighted when she spent time with a couple of gay fans (Andy Nyman and Daniel Cerqueira). They were a distraction from the loneliness and her troubled mental state. The couple acted as a way to show that Judy Garland had a gay following and they offered a bit of comic relief.

Despite the tragedy that Judy suffered during the running time, the film did close on a heartwarming note – even if it was a little cheesy. It played fast and loose with the facts but I will concede that a tear may have formed in my eye.

Judy was a perfectly solid biopic about stardom which was elevated by Zellweger’s performance.