A kind and compassionate meditation on what it might have been like to live Judy Garland's celebrity (and studio system) life, both as a child and adult. Both Renee Zellweger and the young woman who plays Judy as a young star are excellent, and Zellweger is so good she had me feeling as though I was watching Judy herself returned to life and navigating the twists and turns (and hopes) of the life she lived near the end. I was especially taken by the memorable extreme closeups the director and cinematographer used at crucial moments in the film: The idea worked for me, creating indelible, focused intensity that stayed with me after leaving the theater. I feel like this biopic was one of the most successful I've seen in trying to give the viewer an opportunity to understand what might have gone on in a fading star's head as she lived her final months, and exactly how she may have accidentally ingested too high of a dosage of the pills she had known since her childhood in the studio system. By the way, I thought this would inevitably, definitely be a difficult, sad watch as a film, but I left the theater feeling thoughtful and peaceful, and grateful for this tribute to someone who had been so stereotyped, ridiculed, and dismissed by many, especially near the end of her life, and after. "Judy" makes a touching effort to flesh out the real human being who went through all of this, and lets us decide how we choose to remember her.
Review of Judy
