The year was 1967 and, in a bid to regain control of her crumbling career, a 37-year-old Judy Garland accepted a residency at a London theater. And yet, the legendary actress, suffering from a drinking problem mixed with pill-popping to cure anxiety and insomnia, would sometimes show up on-stage completely inebriated. The film version of this historic London stay is portrayed in Rupert Goold’s “Judy,” a fine-as-it goes depiction that feels a tad too conventionally told. And yet, it’s driven by an exceptional performance from Renée Zellweger, who embodies the spirit of Garland in ways that are both illuminating and restrained. Zellweger’s work here is so towering that it clearly overshadows everything else, including Goold’s more-than-decent but unimpressive direction. Ditto the pedantic screenplay by Tom Edge, based on Peter Quilter’s stageplay "End of the Rainbow.” No matter, it’s Zelwegger that comes out trumphant — she’s that good. [B-]
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