By Blake Hodges
Last week I was able to accomplish a goal that I’ve been working towards for five years: attend a movie as “press”. Studios have screeners of movies a week or two in advance of a movie’s release to find out in advance how the press is going to review it. You go to a reserved theater with other press people, watch the movie, and then give quotes and takes for the studio rep to send back to the studio heads so they know how the movie is being received. I say all of this to underline the fact that I went into this movie significantly more excited than I typically would because of this being my first screener and that could have impacted my enjoyment of this. With that disclosure said, let’s look at the three reasons you might enjoy Judy just as much as I did.
1. Biopic Lovers
The best move a biopic can make is to show me a person I have familiarity with but show me the lesser known facts about that person’s life. I knew Judy Garland was in The Wizard of Oz but I had no idea just how hard her life was because of this. Judy goes through some truly horrific conditions throughout her life. There are multiple times you want to jump out of your theater recliner seat and physically attack the people who are inflicting cruelty to her. Making me feel this enraged is a strong signal of a movie doing it’s job: making me feel and care about the characters. Does knowing some version of these events happened to a real person increase my investment in the story? Certainly. However, I don’t see that as a reason to write off the power of this story. Instead, this tells me that they are utilizing the biopic nature of the film to the fullest extent.
2. Oscars Enthusiasts
Let’s skip the part where I bemoan the weak movie year 2019 has been and how wide open the Oscar’s race is. Renee Zellweger owns every scene in Judy. Judy Garland has some big shoes to fill but Zellweger slips those ruby slippers on and struts through each scene flawlessly. Her ability to be on the verge of a collapse only to rally and perform at a peak level is captivating. A biopic lives or dies by the lead and the heart of this movie is pumping hard with the life given from Zellweger. Even if Judy came out in 2018, I would still feel confident Zellweger is getting nominated for best actress. With Zellweger’s performance coming out in 2019 though, she stands the strongest contender to win the Oscar outright. It is going to take an incredible performance over the next three months to convince me Zellweger doesn’t have this on lock down.
3. Drama Fanatics
Thriller, comedy, action, horror, drama, musicals. When I think of the major movie categories and how they rank for me, drama and musicals come dead last. I can get into a good drama if there is a thriller or comedy element paired with it. However, the genre riding shotgun to drama for Judy is musical. Gross. Call me a tasteless heathen but I just struggle to care about musicals. With all of that said, I still really enjoyed this film. If this movie can make me enjoy it when it is the combination of the two genres I like least, then I would have to imagine that Judy is a drama lovers dream. If you aren’t coming from the house of mouse’s major IPs, then you have to niche down and pick an audience to cater towards. If you find yourself sitting in the drama/musical department, then this is the movie to sink into this year.
Grade: B