Hi everyone!
Welcome back for our continuing Golden Globes coverage. By now, the awards have been announced, and everyone is chatting up a storm. Be sure to check out our congratulatory posts for all the winners we’ve reviewed, and the schedule for reviewing the remaining winners, if needed. We covered about seventeen of thirty-four films that were nominated this year.
As part of that coverage, we’ll be welcoming back Ryan L. Terry to the podcast, with his first of two reviews this month covering Golden Globe nominees. Today, Ryan will be covering JUDY, but be sure to tune in next week for his review of WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE? And for a few reviews from Ryan last year, check out KNIFE + HEART (Episode #542), I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER (Episode #614), and THE GOOD LIAR (Episode #662). His promo will run before the review.
Subscribe to stay current with the latest releases.
Contribute at Patreon for exclusive content.
Connect with us over social media to continue the conversation.
Here we go!
/////
>
/////
Today’s movie is JUDY, the biopic directed by Rupert Goold and written for the screen by Tom Edge, based on the stage play by Peter Quilter, starring Renée Zellweger as Judy.
While there are many movies that focus on the rise and fall of a talent in show business, this movie skips all the glitz and glamor to paint a realistic portrait of what it is like for those whom grow up in front of the camera, controlled by those around them, just to wind up in front of booing crowds, with empty bank accounts, homeless, and in a tumultuous custody battle. Not to mention her addiction to pills that was caused by the abusive treatment at the hands of the old studio system. Although we all know the tragic ending, no mistaking it, this film is an inspirational story of redemption. Whether you are a fan of the iconic diva or not, you do not want to miss this powerful film!
While we may be familiar with the broad strokes career of the legendary entertainer, this film goes beyond the headlines and tabloids to deliver a true-life story that could ironically be titled “A Star is Born” or perhaps reborn. Ironic in that this film shows the life of a movie star after the lights have faded and the offers stop coming in, much like the movie she starred in. It’s a rise and fall story of sorts, but is more precisely a fall and rise story as the movie focusses in on the last year of Judy Garland’s life. If you are worried that the film ends on her death, you can be relieved that the film chooses to stop the story prior to the end of the iconic star’s life. And it works incredibly well!
“For one hour, I am Judy Garland, and the rest of the time I am just like everyone else...I want what everyone wants, I just seem to have a harder time getting it." This is a paraphrased quote from the movie, but it illustrates how the actress and singer felt about her relationship with the world. The movie chronicles her inability to stay afloat financially in Los Angeles and must accept a gig in London where her personal troubles continue to follow and haunt her. Her character is so incredibly relatable because many of us have found ourselves in traps that we have stepped in and are at a loss as to how to get out. If you thought this was going to be another cliché musical biopic, then you would be mistaken. No pretense about it, this is an unapologetic look at the dark side of Hollywood in perhaps one of the greatest stories that is right up there with Norma Desmond in SUNSET BOULEVARD.
Zellweger delivers a performance for the ages in this film. It is clear that Zellweger studied Judy Garland for months in order to get into character. Her movement, speech pattern, posture, and other behaviors completely sell the audience on this audacious portrayal of such an icon. We all know Zellweger can sing, after all, she wow'd us in CHICAGO (a rare example of when the movie adaptation is better than the live show), but nothing will prepare you for the power of her singing in this movie. You will hear “The Trolley Song”, “Come Rain or Come Shine”, and of course, she’ll bring you to tears with the encore of “Over the Rainbow” during the movie's climactic, emotionally charged, showdown.
One of the tangential components of this movie is Judy meeting up with "Friends of Judy" at the end of one of her shows. It’s an emotionally moving tribute to all the gay men who’ve loved her over the years. This is the scene where I feel that she should've sang “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” because tonally it was similar to that scene in “Meet Me in St. Louis,” but instead, she sings Get Happy.
Maybe this is an unconventional redemption story, but that quality is clearly communicated through the film. Rising up against the internal and external monsters in your life that have dragged you down so far that there is no end in sight. Whereas Judy may not have changed as dramatically as Scrooge did in “A Christmas Carol”, she does change during the climax of the movie.
Rotten Tomatoes: 83% (CERTIFIED FRESH)
Metacritic: 66
iMDB: 7.1/10
One Movie Punch: 10/10
JUDY (2019) is rated PG-13 and is available on demand and Blu-ray.
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free