JUDY

Director: Rupert Goold

118, PG-13

Screenwriter: Tom Edge, based on the stage play "End of the Rainbow" by Peter Quilter

Cast: Renée Zellweger, Jessie Buckley, Finn Wittrock, Rufus Sewell, Michael Gambon, Darci Shaw.

 

Renée Zellweger makes a showbiz comeback of her own, inhabiting the gifted and mercurial Judy Garland. In 1968, Garland attempts redemption in the last weeks of her life: battered but not broken, whip-smart, addicted, and always, a brilliant artist of the American popular song. British stage director Rupert Goold wisely centers the film on Garland’s preparation for a London concert meant to raise the money to help her take care of her family. However, there’s no way to understand Judy without her child star days at MGM (wonderfully played by Darci Shaw), that brought such triumph (The Wizard of Oz) and trouble (insecurity, diet pills, and studio head L.B. Mayer).

“A love letter to Garland’s talent, her tenacity and her warrior’s heart. One of the best performances of the year!” Peter Travers, Rolling Stone.