Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Movie review: Judy


Judy Garland rose to fame as a child, but thirty years later her star is fading. In an attempt to reboot her career and regain her children Judy heads to London and a 5-week sold out show. Along the way she finds fifth husband Mickey while struggling with her anxiety and physical decline.

Renee Zellweger (Judy), Jessie Buckley (Rosalyn), Finn Wittrock (Mickey), Rufus Sewell (Sid), Michael Gambon (Bernard), Richard Cordery (Louis Mayer), Darci Shaw (Young Judy), Andy Nyman (Dan).

Judy is the story of Judy Garland in her later years. While there are some flashbacks and disturbing history about her grooming to be a star, the film really focuses on her time in London. The story starts off well with character introductions and the current state of Judy's life, which is appearing to disintegrate. The London shows give her a chance to reclaim some fame but anxiety and her physical decline remain a problem. And husband Mickey eventually did little but add to her problems. The result is a biography that is heavy on drama with few laughs and no happy ending.

Though not a Zellweger fan, her performance was impressive physically and she delivered solid emotion throughout the film. Buckley was enjoyable in a smaller role. Wittrock delivered nicely as did Sewell and Gambon. Cordery fit his role perfectly and did well as did the remainder of the cast.

Camera work, sets, and backgrounds are good. Makeup on Zellweger was exceptionally well done, as was costuming. Dialogue has nice depth and movement. Sound and soundtrack are very well done with some nice tracks and a nod to the musical parent of this film.

Overall Judy is a well done and engaging film that told us a lot about Judy we never knew. Judy fans, or Zellweger fans, should enjoy this one a lot. With plenty of drama and some romance, genre fans should enjoy this as well.

A few bits of foul language and some mild adult situations are the only things here limiting audience age. Teens and above should be fine with this one, though they will likely get bored with the drama.

Released: 2019
Reviewed: 7.8.20
Star rating: 4 out of 5
Genre: Drama, Romance, Biography, Stories based on Real Life, Musicals

copyright ©2020 Dave Riedel

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