Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
Thirty years after starring in 'The Wizard of Oz', beloved actress and singer Judy Garland arrives in London to perform sold-out shows at the Talk of the Town nightclub. While there, she reminisces with friends and fans and begins a whirlwind romance with musician Mickey Deans, her soon-to-be fifth husband.
Judy (2019) is essentially a showcase for Renée Zellweger's extraordinary, Oscar-winning performance as Judy Garland, capturing her mannerisms, vocal style, and emotional fragility with uncanny precision. The acting is the undisputed centerpiece and earns a well-above-average mark. The cinematography is competent and period-appropriate but unremarkable. The plot, however, is a fairly conventional celebrity biopic structure — fragmented flashbacks to childhood trauma, the toll of fame, substance abuse, and decline — offering little beyond the expected arc. Novelty is low; the film follows well-worn biopic conventions without a distinctive voice or formal ambition. The ending, depicting Garland's final performances and decline, is emotionally resonant if predictable given the real-life subject.