Judy (2019)
2019
118 Minutes
Winter 1968 and showbiz legend Judy Garland arrives in Swinging London to perform a five-week sold-out run at The Talk of the Town. It is 30 years since she shot to global stardom in The Wizard of...
User Review
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I initially wanted to cry when I reached the end of “Judy” but after sinking in everything I watched beforehand, this biopic is a lot like the other biopics out there centering around a struggling artist, but just with a little more life and flair added to it. It’s a very familiar story that struggles to freshen up but once Renée Zellweger comes through, she steals the show in her performance as Judy. Both the films musical numbers and Renée Zellweger’s stellar performance give this biopic enough dimension and depth around Judy Garland’s final days to garner enough emotion. The film captures some of the highs and some of the lows, piles on the strained smiles and upbeat tunes, embracing the woman even as it tries to temper the despair that comes from watching someone die in slow motion.
But I would’ve enjoyed it a lot more, had the film had a more distinctive vision on the usual tropes of this film genre. It knows what it wants to be and it knows where it’s supposed to go and yet it’s stuck simply in the motions of just being another gimmick. It has all the right intentions and it barely capitalizes off of any of that which made me impair my thinking of the film a lot more. Whatever good it does have is well done; everything else is stuff that’s been done better in the past and unfortunately, slapping Judy’s name and likeliness on a film isn’t going to instantly guarantee it success, regardless of how much I enjoyed it.
Judy, you were a star that burned out far too quickly. After spending years trying to get over that rainbow, I can only hope you’ve found the happiness, comfort and peace that you didn’t find in life. Ms. Garland......rest in peace.0 member like this review.
