Judy (2019)
One of the most surprising things about this film was that it was made at all. Judy Garland was arguably the finest performer in the 20th Century. Her voice, her charisma, magnetism, star quality, and endless humor filled up a package that few could approach, and no one could duplicate.
So the search for a name actress who could also fulfill Garland's looks, voice and personality, must have been a daunting task. It was close, but no cigar.
The film turned out to be a relatively formulaic treatment of a hugely popular star whose career went down the tubes due to drug and alcohol abuse.
Renee Zellweger obviously gave 100% of her effort to impersonating the star. In fact she was able to perform some of Garland's typical physical movements, jerks, and gesticulations while singing.
But the decision to have the actress use her own singing voice on many of the songs was unfortunate. She did her best, but she wasn't Judy Garland. Her rendition of "Over the Rainbow" was very moving, but it was almost ruined by a trite ending to the scene involving the audience. They should have made more use of lip syncing. My guess is that the few songs selected for performance were the ones that Zellweger could handle, rather than a selection from many of Judy's great hits. Zellweger's continuous lip pursing and squinting were of her own idiosyncrasy, not Garland's.
But there were two major omissions from the screenplay. The first was the absence in Garland's written part of her phenomenal well known sense of humor. It's difficult to find any video of hers, or her many personal accounts where her lively humor wasn't present. Even when the chips were down, she always managed to make light of it.
The second was the virtual non acknowledgement (but for one small scene) of Liza Minnelli. She and Garland remained close to the end of Judy's life. But Minnelli wanted nothing to do with the Judy film project, and was very vocal in distancing herself from it. Garland's other children were well featured in the film, but they had them appear as little kids; whereas Lorna Luft was 16 in 1968, and Joey was 13. The film erroneously made it seem as though Garland abandoned her young children.
The opening of the film, and the frequent reappearance in flashback of L.B. Mayer as Garland's Svengali and oppressor became a bit much. Mayer, along with Garland's mother and Judy's prescription drug use definitely contributed to her emotional problems. But the cinematic portrayal of Mayer's dark dominance over Garland seemed like something from a horror movie.
It was the writing and several miscasting decisions that detracted from this otherwise interesting story. Finn Witrock as Judy's final husband, Mickey Deans, was a miss, but he might have brought it off with better dialogue. Even Garland's English attendant, Rosalyn Wilder, played by Jessie Buckley, was under cast. The role needed more maturity. Rufus Sewell did a believable job as Garland's ex-husband, Sid Luft. And Michael Gambon as her Brit manager turned in some nice work.
Renee Zellweger went all out for her portrayal of Judy Garland, and she deserves praise for it. Unfortunately, mostly due to the writing, it was simply not good Garland.
Doc's rating: 6/10 - chiefly for Zellweger's work
[On a personal note, I performed with Judy Garland in concert at the Cincinnati Gardens, Ohio in May of 1965. On tour she traveled with her manager, conductor, pianist and drummer. The other musicians (including me) were hired locally. We had one band rehearsal in the afternoon, then the concert in the evening. The band of about 12-13 players were set up on stage in the rear. The house was full --about 8-10,000-- and when Garland walked out on stage, one would have thought it was a divine presence. The audience went nuts. Her stage persona was electric. Each song was performed as I'd never heard anyone sing before. The set was short, with only 6-7 songs, separated by stage banter. The intermission dragged on and on. We were finally given the word to get back on stage. But when everyone was settled Garland came out somewhat supported by a man in a suit who was evidently a doctor. She informed the audience that she was running a high fever, was ill, and that she wouldn't be able to continue. With that, she apologized, thanked everyone, and walked off the stage. I'll never know whether she was really flu struck, or whether she was under the influence of booze/drugs. The band rumor was that she had become loaded. So it was no surprise that she was dead just 4 years later from barbiturate poisoning and cirrhosis. But what I witnessed in Garland's performance was like nothing I've seen before or after.]