Judy (September 27, 2019)

[dpippel]

Title: Judy

Genre: Drama, Music

Director: Rupert Goold

Cast: Renée Zellweger, Rufus Sewell, Finn Wittrock, Michael Gambon, Jessie Buckley, Bella Ramsey, John Dagleish, Gemma-Leah Devereux, Tim Ahern, Bentley Kalu, Arthur McBain, Phil Dunster, David Shields, John Mackay, Darci Shaw, Tom Durant Pritchard, Andy Nyman, Royce Pierreson, David Rubin, Natasha Powell, Israel Ruiz, Lucy Russell, Matt Nalton

Release: 2019-09-27

Plot: Legendary performer Judy Garland arrives in London in the winter of 1968 to perform a series of sold-out concerts.

 

[dpippel]

This film was nowhere on my radar. Wow, Zellweger is pretty uncanny in the first trailer:

 

[Mark-P]

Here's the latest trailer. I must say, it does not look promising. Perhaps in context the performance will fall into place, but based on these clips I see an actress acting her butt off trying to be somebody she's not. The seams are clearly visible on that mask (so to speak). Casting is key, in these kind of biopics as the performance should be effortless and invisible. It's not necessary that an actor look exactly like the person they play, but they must inhabit their essence. Of course I will still see the movie, because I must consume everything pertaining to Judy Garland.

 

[PMF]

Here's the latest trailer. I must say, it does not look promising. Perhaps in context the performance will fall into place, but based on these clips I see an actress acting her butt off trying to be somebody she's not. The seams are clearly visible on that mask (so to speak). Casting is key, in these kind of biopics as the performance should be effortless and invisible. It's not necessary that an actor look exactly like the person they play, but they must inhabit their essence. Of course I will still see the movie, because I must consume everything pertaining to Judy Garland.

The most dangerous job for an actor is to take on an icon.
But always, always, always, I root for being thrilled.

 

[Nick*Z]

It's odd, because Zellweger can look startlingly Garland-esque in her year of steep decline in a handful of these shots, which is not the same as being able to sustain the illusion of Judy Garland - world's greatest all-around entertainer in a 2 hour plus biopic. Much like My Week With Marilyn, this one looks promising at a glance. But no actress would dare attempt Garland in her prime. And anyway - why show us what we already know from the many biographies written about Judy; the best of the lot - Rainbow: The Stormy Life of Judy Garland.

 

[JohnMor]

I’m not feeling it from the trailer. It seems a bit “off” to me. But I do think we always expect more of an imitation than a performance of a character when it comes such famous and iconic people and that’s unfortunate. But I do like that she is doing her own singing, like Spacek in Coal Miner’s Daughter and Foxx in Ray rather than lipsynching to Judy’s recordings. I think it really helps complete the performance. As much as I love Jessica Lange (and Patsy Cline), every time she opened her mouth to sing in Sweet Dream and I suddenly heard Patsy, it took me out of the performance.

It’s going to take some miraculously glowing reviews to get me out to see this, based on the trailer.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

It's odd, because Zellweger can look startlingly Garland-esque in her year of steep decline in a handful of these shots, which is not the same as being able to sustain the illusion of Judy Garland - world's greatest all-around entertainer in a 2 hour plus biopic.

I was really struck by how in one shot Judy Garland circa-1951 had come back to life, and then the next shot Renée Zellweger, made up like Judy Garland, had taken her place.

I experienced a similar phenomenon with Bryan Cranston as LBJ in All the Way. At certain moments, the illusion was perfect. At other moments, the mask slipped a bit and the actor was revealed.

 

[Matt Hough]

I’m not feeling it from the trailer. It seems a bit “off” to me. But I do think we always expect more of an imitation than a performance of a character when it comes such famous and iconic people and that’s unfortunate. But I do like that she is doing her own singing, like Spacek in Coal Miner’s Daughter and Foxx in Ray rather than lipsynching to Judy’s recordings. I think it really helps complete the performance. As much as I love Jessica Lange (and Patsy Cline), every time she opened her mouth to sing in Sweet Dream and I suddenly heard Patsy, it took me out of the performance.

Which is why I MUCH preferred Beverly D'Angelo's Patsy Cline in Coal Miner's Daughter to Lange's version. I know they needed a big star for Sweet Dreams, but Beverly was a better Patsy.

 

[Johnny Angell]

After watching both the trailers, i’m Ver encouraged. This has potential to be great.

 

[Jason_V]

I walked out of the theater saying just give Renee Zellweger the Oscar and call it a night. She's absolutely incredible from beginning to end as Judy Garland. I kept watching her facial ticks, the way her lip curls and her hand movements and I bought her as the performer she's supposed to be. There was a moment or two when I could see Zellweger come through, but I can't determine if that's a "me" problem or in the performance. I'll go with the former since she's so fantastic in the role.

For the film: I admire it, I like it, I appreciate it...I also feel a little dirty because the events we're watching (real or made up) are deeply personal and showcase the downfall of a celebrity. I feel that way after all biopics and documentaries, honestly, so this one did it's job. The story didn't run on too long or overstay it's welcome. Although we all know how this story ends, I kept hoping for a different ending.

Huge recommendation from me.

 

[Wayne_j]

Glad you liked it. I'm seeing this in 2 hours.

 

[Wayne_j]

I just got back, it was a solid movie I would give it a B+. Give Renee Zellweger a nomination.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Glad to hear both of you liked it so much.

I'm also glad that in this case, "limited release" does not mean "four theaters on both coasts." It's in 461 theaters this weekend, which isn't wide, exactly, but it's wide enough to have a decent nationwide footprint so that those of us who don't live in New York or LA can still see it this weekend.

That being said, I'm going tonight and will check back in afterwards. Looking forward to it.

 

[Chris Will]

It’s not playing in my neck of the woods. I’d like to see it so hopefully it will expand in the coming weeks.

 

[benbess]

Excellent performance by RZ in the title role. "A-"

 

[Jake Lipson]

It’s not playing in my neck of the woods. I’d like to see it so hopefully it will expand in the coming weeks.

It will be expanding to 1,400+ theaters beginning Friday, so there's a good chance it's coming to you this weekend.

I saw it on Friday and enjoyed it very much, but holy crap was it sad. As much as I liked seeing it and appreciate the fine work done by everyone involved in it, I don't think I could stand seeing it again.

 

[MatthewA]

I saw it last night, and although skeptical as I was at first, I think Renée did a stunning job of capturing Judy's late-life (after her short-lived CBS-TV show which is skirted over entirely) self. The "and then I made" parts of her Hollywood and concert touring career were already covered very well in the 2001 TV-movie Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows. This film fills in the blanks that left behind*. If there's anything "wrong" with the film, is that it captures Judy's decline and fall a little too well. But unlike the countless other films and documentaries about her, it also acknowledges not only Judy Garland's gay male fans, but

Spoiler: plot/character points

Louis B. Mayer's period-typical homophobia and his behavior towards Judy that would be considered sexual harassment today and worse because of her age at the time (this is during the filming of The Wizard of Oz when she would have been 16).

This isn't the movie version of the tired act of some second-rate female impersonator at a Castro Street bar. I went in expecting yet another "woe is me" story about Judy Garland with none of the triumphs between tragedies, but Renée Zellweger did better than that: she brought Frances Gumm back to life. The male leads complemented her well and the supporting cast was good, although none of the actors playing her children really stood out. The film is not about them, but about how she copes with life without them. The song choice was pretty well thought out, too.

I give it 4.5/5.

EDIT: On another minor point: I was glad to see a modern movie actually shot in Panavision with anamorphic lenses instead of faux-widescreen Super 35-type processes.

*The less said about the 1978 made-for-TV Rainbow that covers her vaudeville and early Hollywood period, the better.

 

[JoeStemme]

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.

 

[MatthewA]

Judy Garland's life essentially wrote the book on those clichés. It took another 50 years to run them into the ground altogether. In this case, a book isn't the source material: the recent Broadway play End of the Rainbow is. I'm glad they changed the title; that would have made it sound like a sleazy cable documentary with no-names commenting on her life with psychobabble and conjecture over drearily nondescript stock music, occasionally digging up Mickey Rooney (depicted here in his M-G-M days in the flashback scenes as Judy has to go on a diet and gets a fake, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer press department-generated birthday party instead of a real one) in a desperate attempt to cling to a thin thread of legitimacy. This movie far exceeds those.

The nicest touch is a scene with a male couple (Andy Nyman and Daniel Cerqueira) get to spend a night hosting Judy in London.

One of them mentions why they missed her 1964 concert in London: he was in jail because of Henry VIII-era laws against male homosexuality repealed between then and now; it was never technically banned for women, but the movie doesn't mention this. This couple proves integral to the climax of the film when the venue has English singer/guitarist Lonnie Donegan (John Dagleish) about to go on in her place. Missing from the film is his song "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight?"

Jessie Buckley managed to hold her own as Rosalyn, the woman Talk of the Town has on staff to keep tabs on Judy.

 

[Joe Wong]

For Game of Thrones fans, the actress playing Judy's daughter is... Lady Lyanna Mormont!