Marriage Story wins with poignant realism and tight screenplay

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Marriage Story is a poignant, grounded tale of a marriage in crisis and disintegration. Now streaming on Netflix, the screenplay by director (and producer) Noah Baumbach is tightly written, includes realistic dialogue, and driven by plot points most people who have experienced divorce will recognize. 

Marriage Story Benefits from Realism

The movie is notable for a number of reasons beyond is six nominations in major categories — the most of any film — at the 2020 Golden Globes. For one, Marriage Story is one of the few recent movies produced by Hollywood that aspires to true art while drawing exclusively on from the tension and conflict of everyday life. Baumbach builds the experiences of real world couples and marriage into the plot, and he keeps the story focused. The characters are real, not caricatures. Baumbach has shown enough drama exists in the divorce of two people who still care for each other and still love their child to drive a powerful movie. 

Trigger warning: For those who have gone through the emotional trauma of divorce, Baumbach’s movie may cut too close to the bone. The dialogue is realistic, the plot points draw on real decisions, fears, and trade-offs, and the emotionally soul-tearing effects of divorce are front and center.

Realistic Plot Drives a Realistic Story

In terms of plot, Charlie (Adam Driver) is a director in New York’s city’s avant-garde theater scene who is on the cusp of becoming nationally recognized for his work. Nicole (Scarlett Johansson), an actress, was born and bred in Los Angeles. She was a rising film star when she met Charlie, but still moved with him to New York City for his career. Her star power is one of the factors that helps Charlie get his theater company off the ground off Broadway. The cultural and artistic conflicts between movie-oriented Hollywood and theater-oriented New York is palpable, and a source of conflict within their marriage. Nicole still yearns to be in movies and be close to her LA-based mother and friends.

Charlie’s professional dedication has taken a toll after ten years of marriage, now complicated by their young son, Henry. They both deeply love Henry, although they have different approaches and attitudes toward parenting. They also agree to put the interests of their son first in their divorce, prompting them, unsuccessfully, to try mediation rather than engage the legal divorce process. This works, at first. But their hopes for an amicable settlement quickly begins to disintegrate despite the fact neither has substantial financial or physical assets. 

Marriage Story is notable for its particular take on a failing marriage. The divorce does not begin in epic or existential conflict. Rather, Marriage Story is about relational disintegration under the weight of the innocuous sounding “irreconcilable differences,” the peculiarities of state divorce laws, divorce law attorney tactics, and the inevitable suspicion and fear that accompanies the process of splitting up a household. 

Marriage Story Deserves the Accolades

Marriage Story also benefits from an outstanding supporting cast, including Laura Dern as Nicole’s LA-based divorce attorney, Julie Hagerty as Nicole supportive but conflicted mother, Ray Liota as an aggressive attorney Charlie considers to handle his case, and Alan Alda as an older realistic but compassionate divorce attorney who Charlie first engages to help him navigate the complexities of California’s divorce laws. 

Marriage Story led the 2020 Golden Globes with six nominations, with Laura Dern winning Best Supporting Actress in a Drama for her role as Nicole’s aggressive divorce attorney. The movie also was nominated for Best Film (Drama), Best Actress (Johansson), Best Actor (Driver), Best Screenplay (Baumbach), and Best Score (Randy Newman). Marriage story deserved all these nominations.

A Hidden Life is a majestic, artistically brilliant meditation on life, ethics, and spirituality

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A Hidden Life is Incredibly moving drama about an Austrian conscientious objector during World War II. Franz Jägerstätter (August Diehl) is a farmer working the fields of St. Radegund, a tiny village on the hillsides of the Austrian Alps on the northern-most border with Germany (north of Salzburg).

On the eve of World War II, Franz and his wife, Fani (Valeri Pachner), hope they and their three young daughters can remain untouched by Hitler’s ambitions and Nazi thugs. But the village quickly falls in line with the Nazis. Austria was “annexed” by Germany in 1938, and their friends  and family believe Hitler has restored pride and sense of national identity.

Franz and Fani resist the calls to fall in line. Franz sees the brutality of Hitler’s war, and his Catholic beliefs and conscience lead him to resist. Their friends and family put enormous pressure on them to accept and support the Nazi regime. Their family is increasingly ostracized in the village. But Franz continues to resist. When he is conscripted into the Germany Army, Franz and Fani must grapple the prospects of an inevitable execution for resistance to the Nazi regime. 

American writer and director Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line, The Tree of Life) has crafted a brilliant, subtle, and deeply spiritual story. The vistas of the countryside and mountains transcend their beauty to help tell the story of a conscientious objector trying to reconcile his quest for inner and familial peace in a violent, brutish, and unforgiving time. The attention to detail, mood, and context bring a texture to the movie that will fully immerse audiences. 

Using minimalist dialogue, Malick convey’s story is conveys the Jägerstätter family story through expression, action, and human connections. The visuals and structure of the scenes convey mood, meaning and plot. Narrations of letters sent between Franz and Fani supplement the action and the dialogue. Notably, working with a German and Austrian cast, Malick has shunned subtitles even as the movie alternates between English and German. Yet, non-German speakers will not struggle to understand the meaning of the German dialogue, its implications for Franz’s decisions, or the intent of the actors.

Artistically breathtaking, A Hidden Life is a magnificent movie about real-life hero and martyr. Prepare to be immersed in a three hour meditation on family, ethics, and spirituality. 

Franz Jägerstätter was executed as a conscientious objector, martyred by the Catholic Church, and ultimately beatified by Pope Benedict the XVI in 2007. 

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker provides satisfying bookend to the original saga

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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is a much better movie than many critics say. While not a great film, the movie successfully bookends the series started by George Lucas in the 1970s.

Director J.J. Abrams brings a pace to the film that at times seems disjointed, but not altogether haphazard. It’s more like the first half of the movie is speed skipping from story line to story line. But the story comes together and ties loose ends up in ways consistent with the trajectory of the characters and main themes. Most Star Wars fans should find this a satisfying experience. 

The early story jumping is a bit jarring. Nevertheless, Abrams is clearly trying to pull audiences together onto one story line by drawing on different threads left over from earlier movies. Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) has consolidated his hold on the empire, known as the First Order. The resistance has been defeated, but still limps along in hiding as it tries to regroup. General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) continues to train Rey (Daisy Ridley), the last of the jedi. But events pull Rey away from her training as the necessity of confronting the First Order and Ren becomes overwhelming.

Despite the hectic pace, the plot points become necessary dots that connect familiar story lines. Most viewers can probably stay with the pace. As the movie slows down, Abrams brings more clarity to the movie and its story lines as begins to focus more on the characters and their relationships. Even the bit parts by older characters — most notably Luke (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford), and Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) — are weaved into the arc of the story reasonably well. 

Some critics see the abundance of characters, new and old, as well as the frenetic pace as a filmmaking flaw. To some extent, they have a point. The character arcs for the newer characters Finn (John Boyega) and Poe (Oscar Isaac) are notably thin. Starfighter mechanic Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) is elevated to pilot, but her role is little more than a cameo. 

The pacing, however, is intentional and prepares the audience for the final third of the movie which carries the weight of the story. We find out what the relationship between Ren and Rey really is all about, and the supposedly dead Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) has a nasty surprise in store for our heroes and the resistance. A few interesting characters are introduced, even if they play subordinate roles, which mixes up the story a bit. 

The Rise of Skywalker is a film made for the big screen, and the producers leveraged every element of special effects they could in the final episode. Greatness may be an unrealistic expectation for these movies given the unevenness of The Rise of Skywalker’s predecessors in the canon. But Abrams has done a yeoman’s job of telling a story to reach the core Star Wars base. While The Rise of Skywalker my bookend the original nine episode Skywalker saga, rest assured more Star Wars movies will be speed skipping into future theaters even if they are not at light speed.

Clint Eastwood in top form with Richard Jewell movie

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The debut of Clint Eastwood’s newest movie, Richard Jewell, has been marked by controversy. Ironically, this controversy is not focused on the quality of the movie itself. On the contrary, Richard Jewell shows why Eastwood is a master craftsman of modern cinema. Eastwood has given life to a story about an unremarkable person (Jewell) who was put in a remarkable position by doing nothing more than being the hero he authentically aspired to be. 

Story background

Richard Jewell was the private security guard who discovered the pipe bomb that killed one and injured 111 during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. (Eric Rudolph later arrested for abortion clinic bombings in 2003 and confessed the the Olympic Park bombing in a statement in 2005.)  Jewell was a former cop with a checkered but not criminal past, with professional troubles rooted in the misdirected self-righteousness that sometimes comes with imposing a strict personal moral code on others. While working as a college campus security guard, he pulled over people he suspected of drinking while driving, resulting in a charge of impersonating a police officer. He also received complaints from students who objected to the college’s no alcohol policy which Jewell strictly enforced. His inability to keep a steady job meant that he lived on the economic margins of society in an apartment rented by his mother, Barbara.

The movie, directed by Eastwood and based on a screenplay written by Billy Ray (Hunger Games, Captain Phillips, Terminator: Dark Fate), follows Jewell’s personal descent into hell when he is publicly tagged as the prime suspect in the bombing. Working off a vague profile of previous bombing and arson arrests, the FBI targets Jewell because he was a loner, aspired to be taken seriously in law enforcement, and believed he wanted the public notoriety of being a hero. For 88 days, the media vilified Jewell as the FBI and state police tried, and failed, to identify the Olympic Park bomber. The press jumped the gun based on a lead secured by hard-driving and ambitious Atlanta crime reporter Kathy Scruggs. 

But is the movie any good?

In Richard Jewell, Clint Eastwood demonstrates his mastery of his craft. The movie’s pace engages the audience from beginning to end even though Jewell’s personality is low-key and understated. Eastwood carefully builds the story around Jewell’s character, both his virtues and his flaws. Indeed, it’s Jewell’s flaws that make him seem most sympathetic — he wants to do the right thing, and does, but his personality makes it difficult for him to interact smoothly with others. Overweight and out of shape, others around him are dismissive of his aspirations and abilities. 

Most impressive in Richard Jewell, however, are the performances (another tribute to Eastwood as director). They are uniformly stellar and nuanced. Paul Walter Hauser (BlacKkKlansman, I, Tonya) plays Jewell with compassion, subtlety, and understanding. Easy to dismiss and trivialize because of his soft spoken demeanor, we see Jewell slowly engage his understated intelligence, common sense, and resolve as he becomes jaded by the FBI’s dubious investigative tactics. Kathy Bates (Misery, Fried Green Tomatoes, About Schmidt) provides an Oscar worthy performance as Jewell’s mother Barbara who is caught up and overwhelmed by the maelstrom of media attention. Sam Rockwell’s (Frost/Nixon, Vice, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) turn as Jewell’s reluctant attorney (Watson Bryant) adds an important edge to the story that is both advocate and foil for Jewell as his good-natured instincts lead him into traps. John Hamm (Mad Men, Beirut, Baby Driver) shows why he is establishing himself as one of Hollywood’s leading actors in his role as lead FBI investigator Tom Shaw (a character that is a combination of several agents engaged in the investigation). Olivia Wilde (Booksmart, Tron: Legacy, Drinking Buddies) plays the troubled, tenacious, “work hard play hard” reporter Kathy Scruggs with nuance and depth. 

Richard Jewell is more than an excellent example of filmmaking. It’s also one of the few movies that takes an honest look at the human implications of a public rush to judgement that unfairly maligns innocents. In fact, the injustice was perpetrated by the federal government and the media — sometimes referred to as the “fourth estate” — may play into the anti-authority cynicism of libertarians and conservatives, but confronting the excesses in both institutions is critical to a well-functioning democracy. Narrative film, when done well, helps provide this balance.

Why the controversy?

The controversy over the film was apparently hatched by the very media that ignited the firestorm that under girds the movie’s main theme — a public’s rush to judgement. In the case of the movie Richard Jewell, the media is now claiming a foul by Eastwood for allegedly misrepresenting the very reporter (Scruggs) who everyone (including the media) agrees was at the center of the controversy.

While many in the media (and many movie critics) believe Eastwood (and by extension Ray) unfairly maligns Scruggs (who died in 2001 from an unintentional drug overdose), the director and screenwriter are well within artistic conventions. Directors, producers, and screenwriters often modify characters and plot points to fill the dramatic needs of their film.

Unfortunately, in order to avoid significant plot spoilers, this issue will be taken up in much more depth in a subsequent post. (Hint: Eastwood, Ray, and the actors should be crying foul on their media critics.)

In the meantime, as a narrative drama, Richard Jewell is timely, relevant, and well worth the time spent in the movie theater.

Knives Out mystery entertains with excellent acting and a complex plot

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Knives Out is a funny, well produced, and entertaining mystery comedy. The movie succeeds, in part, because it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

When mystery writer and Thrombey family patriarch (Christopher Plummer) is found dead with his throat cut, local police think suicide. But world-renowned private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) believes foul play is involved, and the suspects multiply quickly. Everyone has a secret, and their entitled boorish behavior is grating, complicating the investigation. But no one seems to have a motive for murder either. Blanc’s reasons for being engaged in the case are as mysterious as the complicated web of relationships, loyalties, and insecurities that keep this movie running at a quick clip. 

At the center of the mystery is Thrombey’s nurse, Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas), whose Latin ethnic heritage is played for comic and dramatic effect throughout the movie. As Thrombey’s primary caregiver, she is also a suspect. Ana de Armas plays the role to the hilt, keeping audiences guessing on just how involved — and intentional — her actions were leading up to Thrombey’s death. 

Writer-Director Rian Johnson does an excellent job managing a well-known cast in a complex plot in “Knives Out.” Among the actors appearing in critical roles are Jamie Lee Curtis as Linda, Thrombey’s daughter and self-made millionaire, Don Johnson as Linda’s wife, Michael Shannon as ne’er do well son who also controls Thrombey’s lucrative publishing empire, and Toni Collette as the widow of Thrombey’s son, and Chris Evans as the entitled grandson who loves to poke and prod his family into arguments.

Those looking for a more modern and updated Agatha Christie type mystery will enjoy Knives Out. Superb acting and attention to detail allow this “who done it” to rise above mediocrity. While the movie provides lessons about humility, independent, and personal responsibility, Rian Johnson doesn’t let the movie get bogged down in too much moralizing. The bratty adult behavior does enough on its own. 

Despite Flaws Last Christmas entertains on strength of Emilia Clarke’s performance

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Emilia Clarke gives a top-shelf performance in Last Christmas, a holiday movie about a young woman’s struggles with her dysfunctional immigrant family and the lasting psychological effects of a life-changing surgery a year earlier. Unfortunately, too many plot holes create an uneven story that will strain credibility even for very forgiving Christmas movie fans.

Clarke plays Kate, the daughter of a family who migrated to London to escape the bloodshed triggered by the break-up of Communist Yugoslavia (in the 1990s). Unable to find work as an attorney, her father now drives a cab in London to support his family while the matriarch (played by Emma Thompson who co-wrote the screenplay) presses her daughters to be successful in their adopted homeland. Kate (and her sister) struggles with her Yugoslav family ethnicity and the demands of her hard-driving mother. 

Kate is not handling the pressure well. She continually slips into destructive personal behavior, including drinking, casual sex, and carelessness that (humorously) results in the killing of a Lionfish, a friend’s model of a wooden sailing ship, and other assorted minor personal catastrophes. Eventually, she is cast out by her friends and forced to move home.

Along the way, Kate meets Tom (Henry Golding), a mysterious but apparently happy-go-lucky type of guy. He is smitten by Kate, and he encourages her to appreciate the unappreciated, like well-kept hidden alleys and urban gardens tucked away behind houses. He admonishes her to “look up” and take note of the little things of wonder all around her, such as birds nesting in the awnings of shops. Predictably, Tom begins to wear down Kate’s cynicism. 

As Kate struggles to find her way, she works as an elf in a London Christmas store owned and operated by a Chinese woman (Michelle Yeoh) nicknamed “Santa.” The banter between Santa and Kate is entertaining, while the setting adds an element of magical realism that helps excuse obvious plot points and a few implausible plot twists. This is a Christmas movie, after all.

Gradually, Kate begins to cope with her own demons and begins to make amends with those she has wronged. She begins to grapple with the real trauma underlying her surgery. Her work at a homeless shelter becomes an important vehicle for this transformation as she begins to understand the joy of helping others. As we might expect, Kate eventually finds her way, but not without real heartache that shakes her to the core. 

Last Christmas has many moments of humor and poignance. The scenes where Kate confronts the real trauma created by her surgery are particularly heart wrenching. Clarke’s performance in this scene is particularly gripping. Clarke, Golding, and Yeoh also have real chemistry on screen, and this helps save the film. Unfortunately, it’s not quite enough to take it to the level their performances warrant. Nevertheless, the core message, that we fulfill ourselves by doing good for others, is the truth that becomes the glue that holds this story together. 

Overall, I found Last Christmas to be a pleasant diversion anchored by an outstanding performance by Clarke. The movie highlights Clarke’s versatility as an actor, exploiting natural comedic timing and expressiveness that many of her fans from Game of Thrones might not recognize. Last Christmas may be the perfect vehicle for pulling her out of any type-casting that might have come from playing The Dragon Queen, Daenerys Targaryen.

Martin Scorsese ushers up another epic in The Irishman

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Martin Scorsese ushers in another epic gangster movie in the The Irishman, now streaming live on Netflix. The movie stars Robert De Niro as Frank Sheeran, a small-time truck driver who becomes a confidante and hitman to a crime boss Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci) and Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). Hoffa is the legendary and ruthless head of the Teamsters trucking labor union. The movie covers the long arc of their relationship, from the first serendipitous encounter between Frank and Russell through the tense relationship between Hoffa, the Italian crime families, and the federal prosecutors who try to lock them up. The Irishman also includes a slew of top-quality supporting performances, and they all weave in and out of the complex relationship between the three major players.

Throughout the movie, Scorsese uses the decisions forced on Frank by his crime boss and union boss to explore the morally and ethically ambiguous world of organized crime. One highlight is a face off between Hoffa and a rising star in the Teamsters. They find themselves in prison together and begin arguing over whose criminal conviction carries more moral weight. Bufalino argues that fraud, which involves simply stealing funds from the union pension, is more defensible than extortion, which includes a physical threat against a person. Yet both sides use violence and threats as part of their standard trade practices. These exchanges set up critical dilemmas for Frank, and become important plot points. 

Fans of Scorsese and organized crime movies will find a lot to love in The Irishman. Produced by De Niro, Scorsese has paid his characteristic attention to the details of the period. Each scene reflects the craftsmanship that has earned him a well-deserved reputation as a film master. The casting is also superb, as each supporting player plays an intentional role in furthering the plot and adding dimension to the main characters. The “aging” (or, more appropriately, de-aging) of the lead characters over what amounts to a forty-plus year period will likely earn The Irishman major award nominations as well. De Niro, Pesci, and Pacino seem to evolve from youth to old age seamlessly and naturally.

Clocking in at three and a half hours, The Irishman would have likely had a tough slog in wide release in commercial theaters. Despite its execution and craftsmanship, the movie’s pacing is slow, even plodding at times. Audiences will need some patience to make it through to the end. For this Scorsese epic, the value is in the journey, not the destination. 

Terminator: Dark Fate adds humanity to a long-running franchise

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Terminator: Dark Fate is surprisingly good for a movie that lines up as the sixth in the Terminator franchise. (Full disclosure: I saw T1 and T2, but missed all the others.)  Produced by James Cameron and directed by Tim Miller, Dark Fate brings back Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor and Arnold Schwarzenegger as an older model terminator with the human name Carl. The movie also introduces Latina actress Natalia Reyes as Dani Ramos, a Mexican teenager who has been targeted by the future as the newest threat to the machines of the future by dispatching the newest model terminator (a Rev 9 played by Gabriel Luna). Mackenzie Davis plays Grace, an uber warrior of the future — an augmented human — sent back in time to protect Dani.

For those that have seen T1 and T2, Dark Fate is supposed to be a chronological sequel. The plot picks 28 years after the events of T1, and Sarah Conner is a one-woman terminator hunter and destroyer. Connor mysteriously receives text messages that give her to coordinates of terminators as they arrive from the future, and she destroys them. This becomes an important plot point but telling more would reveal a bit too much for a movie that just opened in theaters and is destined for a long run. 

On the one hand, “Dark Fate” is a pretty standard terminator movie in terms of plot and action. The plot twists are important, but it’s the action that keeps forward momentum in the story. What distinguishes “Dark Fate” from T1 and T2, is the layers screenwriters David Goyer, Justin Rhodes, and Billy Ray bring to the characters in this sequel. In contrast to the terminators, which show no emotion — they are robot killers, after all — the trauma experienced by Sarah Connor and Dani Ramos is palpable in their characters. Their arcs are well crafted, logical, and break through the expected (and exceptional) CGI and other special effects. Both characters experience dramatic breaks although Dani’s trajectory is more linear.  Linda Hamilton’s experience as an actor shines as she effectively casts important levels of reflective humanity into the deeply scarred character of Sarah Conner. That’s no small feat for a hard-core action film. Even Schwarzenegger is given more latitude as an actor, despite being a machine from the future, adding yet another subtle but important dimension to the story and film franchise.

Linda Hamilton has talked in interviews how female characters have evolved to the point where they can be tough and feminine at the same time. I have written about this as well, specifically as it relates to how Sarah Conner was scripted in T1 (see the link to my article in the comments section). Hamilton is right on Dark Fate. Sarah Hamilton is tough, but layered, and it’s great to see this character become more three dimensional and fleshed out. 

Overall, terminator movie fans should be entertained Dark Fate. Those looking for good acting, good stories, and character arcs should also find plenty to satisfy them as well.

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The Lighthouse mixes horror and psychology in time for the holidays

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The Lighthouse is billed as a psychological horror film, and that pretty much captures the tone and pace of this movie. Strong performances by Willem Defoe and Robert Pattinson are the glue that holds this film together. Unfortunately, a plodding plot risks disengaging audiences.

Tom (Defoe) and Winston (Pattinson) are lighthouse keepers, or wickies, in 1890. Tom is a crusty experienced keeper who knows what’s in store for their scheduled four-week gig on a rock island far away from shore. He’s also on a bit of a power trip as the senior keeper and one in charge. Winston is a former logger who is a bit of a wanderer, but taking his first job as a wickie. It’s a classic test of wills, and it’s the lighthouse (and the environment) that sets this movie apart.

Working a lighthouse was arduous, physical work, and The Lighthouse does a good job of conveying the backbreaking labor needed to literally keep the light on. Oil needs to be hauled up hundreds of steps in a spiral staircase to keep the light going, and a coal-fired steam engine keeps the light rotating. In between, someone has to keep the cistern clean and water potable to survive. Tom tasks Winston with these jobs, and this unbalanced assignment of tasks creates the tension that drives the plot. 

The lighthouse’s isolation combined with the hard labor, leads to hallucinations, or so we think. The movie keeps the audience guessing about whether Tom and Winston’s behavior is just impatience, or truly erratic. We are never sure if their other worldly perceptions are induced by exhaustion, mental illness, or perhaps something paranormal.  

The Lighthouse is the type of movie that puts the characters and actors in the spotlight. The movie is clearly a vehicle for Defoe, whose performance is strong enough he might get a major award nomination. The script also gives Pattinson enough to show the growing range of his own acting abilities.

If you enjoy deep character studies, horror (albeit on the mild side), and psychological suspense, The Lighthouse is probably a good movie to put on your list.

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Renee Zellweger stands out as Judy

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Judy the biopic of the last year of Judy Garland’s life, moves on the strength of Renee Zellweger’s uncanny performance as Judy Garland. A child star, Judy Garland was sensitive and gullible. Unfortunately, she was left to the vicissitudes of the Hollywood studio system without protections from its abusive and overbearing studio bosses. She never recovered.

Perhaps because Garland is such a well-known Hollywood figure, the movie Judy spends little time delving into the magnificence of her life as one of the most bankable movie stars in the 1940s and 1950s. She reportedly had two abortions because they weren’t “studio approved” pregnancies. 

Instead, the movie chronicles the last year of her life after a lifetime of abuse and exploitation. But most of this conflict is backstory to her final year, which is the subject of the movie Judy.  

Unfortunately, as a result, “Judy” moves slowly with strikingly little tension for such a tragic figure in pop culture. 

Most people watching Judy already know the end — an extraordinary talent and life cut tragically short. The movie tries to build this conflict in through her struggles to keep custody of her children, take back control over her career, and wrestle with drug and alcohol abuse. In the end, however, the result is the same: Judy Garland died at just 47 years old by an accidental overdose thousands of miles away from her children.

Garland’s story is one of lost youth, exploitation, and her inability to recover as an adult. Her story had parallels with contemporary problems and struggles of celebrity culture. Instead, Judy seems to be content as a chronicle of Garland’s struggles in her last year and recount her last hurrah of one of Hollywood’s greats. 

Judy Garland fans will also find Judy a fitting tribute to a tortured soul who tried to do her best to turn things around, but ultimately failed. Zellweger’s performance also represents an outstanding performance, perhaps even a career defining role. For these reasons alone, many people will find “Judy” worthwhile. 

Update: Renee Zellweger won Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama at the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards in 2020.