The story opens in Los Angeles as Judy Garland (Renee Zellweger) takes her daughter and son to a club where she performs, using them as stage props. Afterwards, she takes them to her hotel but she is turned away. She is in arrears on her bill and is ushered out the door. Without options, she takes her kids to the home of her ex-husband, Sidney Luft (Rufus Sewell). With the kids in bed, she sets out for her daughter's house. Liza Minnelli has a party in full swing when Judy arrives. Judy meets Mickey Deans (Finn Wittrock) and hits it off with the younger man. Broke and with a long track record of unreliability, Judy cannot find steady income and Sidney wants custody of the kids. Desperate, she gets an offer from London and sees no other options. Off she goes. While in London, she demonstrates her unreliability again and again. She also marries Mickey Deans, her 5th and final husband.
If I wanted to make a movie that would make people dislike Judy, this is the movie I would make. It is hard to like Judy. There are flashbacks to her time as a young actress for Louis B Mayer where she developed many of her self-destructive habits. Was this an effort to blame 46 year-old Judy's problems on Mayer and the studio system? It sure felt like it. Beyond The Wizard of Oz, I can't think of another role where I saw Garland, thus it is hard to judge how well Zellweger did in capturing her. Though she may have captured the personality and mannerisms, she didn't get the voice. Renee sings well but she's no Judy Garland.
Not recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment