Legendary performer Judy Garland arrives in London in the winter of 1968 to perform a series of sold-out concerts.
True fans of Judy Garland know that along with a seemingly effortless million-dollar voice, the legendary singer had to work hard as hell to maintain a bevy of supporters who could withstand her highs and lows that came about as a result of being thrust into the limelight at an early age with expectations that she would be nothing less than perfect. As the film goes back and forth from the time she was young (Darci Shaw) and played Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz,” singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” until she became a wife and mother, imagery of an immensely troubled adult emerges and casts a dark shadow over the life and livelihood of a woman who appeared to have it all together and the just lose it. The film, directed by Rupert Goold and written by Tom Edge, focuses on the latter portion of Judy’s life whereas she had lost control, personally and professionally through a combination of drugs, depression, and indecision, and was basically treading water at an attempt to make a final comeback at fame.
The film started and ended with Judy’s vulnerability on full display. In the opening scenes, she tried to use her arrogance to keep from being evicted from a hotel which she had shared nightly with her children. Broke and with nowhere to turn, she ended up relinquishing her parenting rights to her husband Sidney Luft, who was the father of her children, Lorna (Bella Ramsey) and Joey (Lewin Lloyd), and set out on a sole crusade to London where she felt that her past would never catch up with her. In London, she was paired with a handler, Jessie Buckley (Rosalyn Wilder), and in spite of being formidably abused by Judy, she always seemed prepared and destined to keep her going in spite of her own ignorance. The film shows a fragile and impossible Judy who never seemed to get a good grasp on the fact that her fate from a life of overindulgence was already sealed. Haunted by the memories of working with MGM studio head, Louis B. Mayer (Richard Cordery), who saw to it that she internalized every role, physically and emotionally, Judy never veered too far from the internal rebuttal of discipline that stretched her beyond her own limits. After several drug overdoses, an attempt at suicide and a failed 5th marriage to Mickey Deans (Finn Wittrock), Judy succumbed to her own idiosyncrasies in 1969 at the tender age of forty-seven.
Renée Zellweger as Judy is a match made in heaven. The actress who, as of late, has been seen very sparingly, has obviously spent a lot of time honing her skills as both an actress and a singer. Not to say that she hasn’t been great in previous roles, but this one will define her for years to come as she obviously sought perfection in every aspect of this role, as did Judy for the majority of her life. In scene after scene, Renée’s mannerisms, her physical presence, and her own angelic voice, which brought the house down with her rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” brought to reality the complex human being who proved to be an extraordinarily difficult specimen, both publicly and privately, for the vast majority of her entire existence.
Now available on Digital and on Blu-ray Combo Pack (plus Digital) and DVD and On-Demand Dec. 24th
