Judy (2019)

Renee is just perfect for this role. Her acting is amazing! Her voice is so beautiful. Really enjoy this movie.

Fmovies: Just in time for the 50th anniversary of her passing, this is a sparkling, yet honest closer look at the legendary 1968 "Talk of the Town" engagement, the promising effort for a physically and emotionally exhausted Judy Garland to reignite her fading career. Renee Zellweger has not only literally transformed into the mature Judy Garland, but also delivers impressive singing performances. The script, costumes and sets take the audience on a virtual trip back into the last days of the ultimate performer's life.

Somewhere over the rainbow...Judy looks down and smiles. There will never be another Judy Garland, but Renee Zellweger's portrayal comes pretty close.

This was a highly entertaining movie and it brought back memories I had of watching Judy Garland on various television variety shows when I was growing up. I've always been a fan of RZ and I appreciated the fact that she did all the singing for the film. I recommend this movie.

Judy fmovies. Sometimes an entire movie boils down to a lead performance, and JUDY is one of those examples. Fortunately, Renee Zellweger is more than up to to the challenge. Zellweger does more than just an imitation here - sure, the ticks and mannerisms that have been copied and parodied for decades are all on display, but, the actress goes for, and largely, attains several more layers. The script follows the "Last Days" scenario seen in so many bio-pics. The doomed character. The flashbacks. The final triumph. The various side characters who represent assorted people throughout that person's life etc. etc.. Still Zellweger is strong enough to overcome most of the cliches. The rest of the cast does well, but outside of Jessie Buckley as her London assistant, they don't get much to do (Michael Gambon in particular has, almost literally, nothing to do). The Production, music (nice to hear a new Gabriel Yared score), and, most critically, the makeup and hair all work to give us a fairly convincing glimpse of Garland's final months in 1969. Theater Director Rupert Goold keeps the viewer focused on his main character despite some melodramatic passages in Tom Edge's screenplay (based on Peter Quilter's play). The nicest touch is a scene with a male couple (Andy Nyman and Daniel Cerqueira) get to spend a night hosting Judy in London. It's a warm human moment that also pays homage to Garland's relationship with the gay community (a status that she bequeathed to her daughter Liza). Zellweger delivers a strong performance that keeps JUDY moving along, if not always smoothly.

"I used to listen to Judy Garland all the time - I love Judy Garland and her music. But I started to realize that if you keep singing like that, singing songs of being victimized by love over and over and over again, it can't help but have a profound effect on your life." Diane Keaton

"Judy" is the saddest movie of the year, and a top contender for all time. The last year of Judy Garland's (Renee Zellweger) life before she overdosed on drugs are depicted with a surgeon's accuracy, and the days are counted in despair over her addictions and most of all the separation from her children. Nothing much is pretty, and most is desperate.

Not that I expect the docudrama should be a musical; it should at least be entertaining even in a dark way. To see this iconic entertainer holding a formidable place in the hearts of everyone who has been moved by the whimsy and hope of The Wizard of Oz is to get too much despair after almost two relentless hours of depression.

There is no wizard here, just Louis B. Mayer plying Judy with rhetoric and pills to keep her going through the many pictures she would do after her Oz triumph. She continues getting artificial help long after as she performs not for pleasure but to make enough to keep her children, ironically forcing her at the end to London, that adoring town, but without her kids.

The drama is punctuated by songs, sung expertly by Zellweger, and by her Oscar-worthy performance. But, of course, her voice is not Garland's, nor is anyone's. However, without the insight into her talent and formative years, it's just a gifted Renee imitating the tics of a diva diving to her death at 47.

Thank goodness for a subplot involving two gay fans and their evening with her. It's endearing and the best way to show how she impacted those on the margins of society. The final scene when she sings Rainbow involves the gay duo and is hokey but effectively sentimental and lyrical like the song itself.

Because most of us have grown used to idolizing Judy Garland, the film has a special mandate to show the formation of her formidable career and not just her desperate denouement so that we can enjoy her and understand her better. I propose the next Judy pic be a docudrama about the first half of her life. Now that would be only partially sad.

"I think without a doubt there will never be a voice like Judy Garland." Mickey Rooney

I am not a big fan of Renee Zellweger, but boy did she blow me away. Her performance was flawless! Her singing was right on spot! I really enjoyed the story line. The way the film flashed between WIZARD OF OZ Judy and the London Judy was very well done. It really tied the beginning and end of Judy's career together.