Judy

This is one of those films that has everything I kinda hate about Oscar season. It’s a biopic where the facts have been extensively massaged so that we can have simple inspirational moments (rather than the messier nature of reality), more interested in a lot of dramatic posing than in necessarily constructing a balanced informative narrative. With Rene Zellweger representing Judy Garland during her last run of concerts in London towards the end of her life, this hits some of the key points (the pills, the inconsistent performances, the gay worshippers, the creepy fourth husband), and gives Zelwegger a chance to show off her dramatic talents and some true star power. It also has multiple scenes of transparent bogusness (in particular the finale) and some very clunky writing (in particular in the flashbacks to young Judy’s years as a child star at MGM).

But dammit, Zelwegger really works in this role, particularly during the scenes where Judy’s on stage. They shouldn’t work, and their accuracy is variable (the Judy we see is nearly always presented as a consummate performer, hitting every note and electric on stage, barring one disastrous hostile audience – while in reality, Judy’s final concerts saw her cancelling frequently or stumbling off-key through a shortened set). But dammit, she’s magnetic and stunning and the film deliberately holds off the one big song we’re all waiting for til the end. In some ways this feels a bit like the recent “Stan and Ollie” – a beloved entertainer on the skids playing the UK under the sponsorship of Bernard Delfont – and like that film, it’s better as something to show a magnetic performance (or in the case of “Stan and Ollie”, two great performances), than as a particularly historically accurate or skillfully made film. It’s blatantly emotionally manipulative, bogus and with some very clunky writing. It’s also got a performance that really works and almost holds it all together by force of will. How much you like this film will rest on to how much you let the latter overwhelm the former.