A
star is waning in ‘Judy,’ Rupert Goold’s bittersweet and poignant biopic
starring Renée Zellweger about the final year of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ star Judy
Garland’s remarkable life, shining a spotlight on the legendary actress’ last performances
in a London nightclub called “Talk of the Town” while coping with a range of personal/professional
problems and chronic depression. Perhaps I
can be forgiven in thinking that this movie about Dorothy (who’s
not in Kansas anymore) is all “rainbows and unicorns” upon reading the following
Google synopsis:
“Thirty
years after starring in ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ beloved actress and singer Judy
Garland arrives in London to perform sold-out shows at the Talk of the Town
nightclub. While there, she reminisces with friends and fans and begins a
whirlwind romance with musician Mickey Deans, her soon-to-be fifth husband.”
While
none of that is technically untrue, this movie left me a bit melancholy because
Zellweger’s Judy is a 46-year old “has been” (as Leo DiCaprio's Rick Dalton thought of
himself in Tarantino’s ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’) who’s on the downward arc of her
career where she had to go to London to draw a crowd. Having divorced four times and being unable
to see much of her two youngest children (not Liza) certainly didn’t help her
overall disposition. Given in to drink,
smoking (though that’s pretty normal back then) and prescription drugs, the
only seemingly bright spot in her life at the time (1969) is the charming musician and nightclub owner Mickey Deans (Finn Wittrock) who, being
12 years her junior, managed to make her “feel young” again if you catch my drift
(wink wink).
The
talented Zellweger (whom I haven’t seen on screen in a long time, even
though I typically stay away from the rom-coms she had a propensity to star in)
portrayed Garland with style and grace, giving her tortured and oft irritable character
a vulnerability and humanity hard for us not to empathize with. Alternating between the present of 1969 and
the past when she was a child star in a series of flashbacks, ‘Judy’ manages to
be quietly subtle yet memorable, a deeply affecting and compassionate behind-the-scenes glimpse at
the last days of a waning star.
Grade: B+
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