JUDY
***
Dir: Rupert Goold (12A, 118 mins)
Renée Zellweger steps into some large ruby red slippers to play Judy Garland, as the starlet embarks on a series of sellout concerts in London in 1968. Focusing largely on the tail end of her career, director Rupert Goold and writer Tom Edge have taken their lead from Peter Quilter’s smash hit play End Of The Rainbow. Garland, by this stage, was at a low point in her personal and financial life, though professionally she was still a megastar; a gold-plated entertainer who had been working in the industry non-stop since she was a child, iconic the world over thanks to The Wizard Of Oz and her rollercoaster personal life. Zellweger certainly seems to be embodying the star with awards recognition inevitable, physically transforming for her interpretation of the damaged star. A strong supporting cast are there to help her through the tantrums and stagefright, including the excellent Jessie Buckley, Michael Gambon and Rufus Sewell. Fans of Garland will no doubt lap it up: let’s hope it can overcome its stage origins and that Zellwegger’s performance has life as well as imitation.
Opens Oct 4
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