[REVIEW] Judy (2019) Is Heartbreakingly Beautiful

Judy is a beautiful telling of a devastatingly sad, true story, that highlights the unfortunate mistreatment of our favorite stars in Hollywood. 

Last week on a cloudy Thursday morning I found myself with a bit of spare time on my hands and I decided to take it as an opportunity to sit down, uninterrupted, and watch something that I hadn't seen before. Soon I took to Hulu and found a movie sitting in my recommendations that I was very interested in seeing when it first came out in August of last year, Judy.

I had only been running my YouTube channel Rachel Reviews Everything for a few months back then, and unfortunately my opportunity to see Judy in the theaters had come and gone rather quickly since I hadn't been seeing very many films.

At first, I intended on watching this movie solely for entertainment purposes because admittedly, there wasn't a whole lot that I knew about "The Wizard of Oz" star, Judy Garland; but before long I found myself so intrigued by this telling of her story that I decided to take a few quick notes so that I could share my thoughts on this film with all of you because it's given me a new appreciation for this iconic performer.

The Positive

Thirty years after the legendary singer and actress starred as Dorothy in the timeless classic, "The Wizard of Oz," Judy Garland (portrayed by Renée Zellweger) finds herself broke, homeless, and in need of work as she looks to settle down and start a new life with her two younger children, Lorna and Joe. But as her popularity in America dwindles after being deemed unreliable by showrunners, Garland has no choice but to head to London, England, where fans are still clamoring to see the iconic performer live.

As tickets for her shows at the local nightclub sell out, Garland finds herself in a budding romance with musician and future fifth husband by the name of Mickey Deans, (Finn Wittrock) but despite the recent string of success, she finds herself plagued by the demons of her troubled past and continuously turns to alcohol in a self-destructing effort to cope.

Judy, while beautifully done, isn't necessarily an easy watch as touches on the tragic backstory of Garland's life and career, exploring the hardships of show business and Hollywood that would lead to alcoholism, and addiction at a young age.

As we are shown in this movie, it was Garland's mother who pushed her daughter down the path of drug addiction very early on in her life, as she would provide her with amphetamines, and sleeping pills. Unfortunately, this would lead to Garland's demise as she would later pass away by an accidental overdose at the unfortunate age of forty-seven, leaving behind her three children, including her oldest, Liza Minnelli.

But not just Garland's past that haunts her in the film, it's the combination of both the past and the present that contributes to her fragile mental state as she deals with the aforementioned financial struggles, finds herself fighting with her ex-husband Sid over who should have full custody of their two young children, and later on, we see the first crack in the honeymoon phase of her relationship with her husband Mickey Deans.

Renée Zellweger went on to win an Oscar for best actress after her fabulous performance in Judy, and rightfully so, as I was left absolutely speechless by her portrayal of the late legend.

The fifty-one-year-old actress completely transformed herself into Garland, embracing her mannerisms, inflections, and was able to put her incredible singing voice to good use as she sang some of Garland's most well-known songs.

After listening to Zellweger's performance of "Over The Rainbow" I was able to find Garland's last performance of the song to compare, and while there were some slight differences, I think she did a marvelous job at replicating Garland's voice to the best of her abilities; allowing you to believe, just for a moment that she was the woman this film was based on.

I'm no expert on the performer, but it appears that this movie was able to bring Garland back to the big screen in a respectable way with such beauty and grace, making sure to address her troubles without overshadowing her personality or talent. Garland appeared to be kind and empathetic in the film, the same way she had come off in several of the real-life interviews that I watched of her afterward.

The Negative

Something that I didn't touch on before was that Garland's past is explored through flashbacks of her younger days while working at MGM. The first time we're introduced to Garland is when she's with film producer Louis B. Mayer, having second thoughts as she's about to audition for the role of Dorothy and we're given glimpses of the mistreatment she received from those around her while working at the studio.

Much of what Garland was scrutinized for was her appearance, most often by Mayer. She was placed on strict diets in order to stay "thin enough" for her roles and those around her continued to provide her with pills to help suppress the appetite of the young actress.

These scenes set the tone for the movie and helped the audience to understand what lead up to Garland's behavior in the present day but unfortunately, as the story continues to progress the flashbacks become less frequent throughout the film.

I do wish that the writers would have been a bit more consistent with these scenes as I really felt that they added something special to the film, especially since these flashbacks of the young performer allowed me to care more about Garland as someone who hadn't known much about her prior to the film.

This younger version of Garland was portrayed by actress Darci Shaw, who also deserves a lot of credit for her role in this movie. She gave quite a convincing performance considering she wasn't given a whole lot of screentime to actually work with; it would have been nice to have seen more from her, but sadly, there were missed opportunities where Garland's past could have been further explored and would have given the movie some extra depth.

Conclusion

Overall, I thought that Judy was a heartbreakingly beautiful film; an incredible telling of a devastatingly sad true story, highlighting the dark side of Hollywood and the negative impact that it can have on our favorite performers, such as the late Garland.

As depressing as it may have been for me to sit through at times while knowing that this story wasn't going to have the happiest of endings, I ended up falling in love with the film for its emotional writing, and Renée Zellweger's spectacular performance, following my first viewing of this film, I've definitely walked away with a new found appreciation for Judy Garland.

Have you seen Judy? Please let me know what your thoughts were on the film by leaving me a comment below, and don't forget to follow me over on Twitter @RR_Everything, where I talk about all of the shows and movies that I watch and also provide updates on future reviews!