Legendary performer Judy Garland arrives in London in the winter of 1968 to perform a series of sold-out concerts.
Before seeing this film, I actually had to look up the name Judy Garland to see who she was. Of course, she was Dorothy in the 1939 classic, The Wizard of Oz. Beyond that film, I had no knowledge of Garland's career, so I looked forward to rectifying that with this biopic, Judy, loosely based on the broadway play, End of the Rainbow.
The main bulk of the film begins in the year of 1968 and is an interesting choice considering Garland passed away in 1969. Structurally, from a narrative standpoint, the film is mostly linear. It does utilise flashback sequences, but it does so for very short periods, and it relates directly to the next scenes back in the 1968 section of the timeline. These flashbacks are hardly subtle in their message, but they are well directed, and their content is the most emotionally stirring components of the narrative, thanks to a stellar performance from Darci Shaw as the young Judy Garland.
The flashbacks have a stronger engagement level with the audience because the mains storyline has no real direction at all. There is a plotline revolving around getting money to buy a house for her children, but it is rarely brought up. The pieces of her life portrayed on the screen are chaotic and haphazardly assembled through some peculiar editing choices, but there is no overarching purpose beyond a general atmosphere of "doing well" slowly giving way to "struggling".
One could propose that Judy aims to vilify the film industry itself and its treatment of child actors, with events from Garland's childhood being directly associated with her substance abuse, as well as her physical and mental health issues. Unfortunately, like many of the other interesting questions that the film brings to mind, the topic is swiftly dropped and never referred to again. It is this jumping from scene to scene that prevents any development of character in the film, and as a result, Judy manages to feel both rushed, and slow.
On the other hand, Renée Zellweger gives the performance of her career. Her singing, dancing, and overall display are phenomenal. Despite a slow and disjointed narrative that achieves nothing in its 118-minute runtime, Zellweger manages to create an energy that gradually builds until the climax. It doesn't justify the lacklustre quality of the plot, but it helps bring some genuine enjoyment.
Visually, Judy is well displayed. The cinematography is astounding, with smooth tracking shots, a warm ambience thanks to the lighting and colours, and some very creative shots that logistically must have involved some significant CGI, but is high enough quality that it doesn't show any evidence of it.
An intriguing character-piece that doesn't really explore the character all that deeply, Judy has some high points and some exceptional acting from both young and old Judy Garland portrayals, but it lacks a strong sense of purpose to fully hook you in. Some beautiful musical numbers to be seen, but it isn't enough to keep this reviewer engaged in what is going on.