“Judy” tells the story of one of Hollywood’s most celebrated stars, and draws attention to the consequences of the industry’s abuse of women
IT HAS BEEN three decades since she sauntered down the yellow brick road with the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. As “Judy”, a new biopic of Judy Garland, opens, its subject is 47 years old, broke, homeless and on the verge of losing custody of her two children. When she finds herself at a swanky party in Los Angeles, surrounded by hippies in their 20s, she is ill at ease. That is, until a young and handsome man approaches her with a cocktail.
At a time when the treatment of women in Hollywood is under scrutiny, all this is an effective reminder that the cruelties of show business are not a recent phenomenon so much as a founding principle. Mayer coerces, bullies and manhandles Garland. Rupert Goold, the director, portrays Mayer almost as a monster, emphasising his enormity—especially when compared with the diminutive Garland—and half-hiding him in shadows.
Ms Zellweger, whose casting was met with some scepticism, is in fact an inspirational choice for the role. Like Garland, she was a young star who struggled to find meaningful parts after years of ingénue roles, and whose appearance has been the subject of intense scrutiny and gossip. Ms Zellweger goes beyond mere impersonation to create a complex performance.
Unfortunately, despite its novel approach, “Judy” falls into the same traps as other biographical films. It reveres its subject too much. The cast of subordinates who flit in and out of her life—her handlers, her ex-husbands and her fans—are written not as fully-formed human beings but as reflections of the Garland mystique. In one particularly contrived scene, Garland spends a quiet evening at the apartment of a gay couple who call themselves her biggest fans.
Yet for many viewers, that will not matter. . It is a tale with a tragic ending: months after her stint at Talk of the Town, Garland died from an accidental overdose of sleeping pills.
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