Judy
Roadside Attractions | Release Date: September 27, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 46 Critic Reviews
Positive:
34
Mixed:
12
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreSep 27, 2019
It’s hard not to gather up these move complicated moments and wish for more of them — to think about how much better it would have been if she had gotten to play Garland as a flesh-and-blood person and not as the saint of suffering for showbiz. Read full review
60
Time OutPhil de SemlyenSep 26, 2019
Its trump card, of course, is Zellweger, who blows through the film in a gust of jittery energy, wounded ego and half-buried star quality. The transformation is startling. Read full review
60
EmpireIan FreerAug 31, 2019
Despite an imposing performance by Renée Zellweger, Judy never exposes the dark heart of Garland’s last years, creating an enjoyable backstage drama movie while failing to get under its protagonist’s skin. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeyAug 31, 2019
Sketchy it may be, but the film finds dreamy consolation in the final curtain. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawAug 31, 2019
Zellweger gives us a tribute to Judy Garland’s flair and to that ethos of the show needing to go on being both a burden and driving force. Yet Garland’s terrible sadness is mostly invisible. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedSep 27, 2019
Despite an avalanche of misguided raves, Renée Zellweger as the greatest entertainer of the 20th century in a film called simply Judy is nothing more than another gimmick. You won’t get the real deal here, no matter which gushing hysteric you read. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreSep 27, 2019
On a musical bio-pic scale, this isn’t “Rocketman” or “Bohemian Rhapsody,” not “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” “Sweet Dreams” or “Get on Up.” It’s unfortunately a lot closer to “Jimi: All is By My Side.” Uncanny in its impersonation, flat as a movie, forgettable as a biography. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla DargisSep 25, 2019
Mostly, Judy offers the familiar spectacle of one star playing another. Zellweger’s performance is credible, with agitated flutters and filigreed touches, though it leans hard on Judy’s tremulous fragility, as if she were a panicked hummingbird. The take is also cautious, too comfortable; it never makes you flinch or look away. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleSep 24, 2019
A great movie was within reach with Judy — the new Judy Garland biopic starring Renee Zellweger — but the producers and creators made an epic mistake: They didn’t use Garland’s actual vocals. Instead, they let Zellweger pinch-hit for Babe Ruth and ended up spoiling the movie. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineKeith UhlichSep 18, 2019
Renée Zellweger can reach all the notes and hit all the marks, but Garland’s intense emoting eludes her. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comMonica CastilloSep 17, 2019
As played by Renée Zellweger, this Judy is painfully and visibly anxious. Or, perhaps this is her idea of drug-induced twitching. Either way, there are spots in the movie where Zellweger’s affected manners become too distracting and overshadow everything else around her. Read full review
50
IndieWireEric KohnSep 1, 2019
Zellweger inhabits the role of the jaded, soul-searching musical icon reasonably well within a dreary and unremarkable saga that finds her grappling with her past, contending with pill-popping addictions and a broken family. It’s a familiar story that Judy struggles to freshen up, at least until Zellweger takes the mic. Read full review
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