Life with Judy Garland - Me and My Shadows

Starring:Judy Davis, Victor Garber, Hugh Laurie, John Benjamin Hickey, Sonja Smits, Jayne Eastwood, Daniel Kash, Alison Pill, Aidan Devine, Stewart Bick, Amber Metcalfe, Tammy Blanchard, Al Waxman, Krista Sutton, Marsha Mason, Cynthia Gibb, Ellis Turner, Dwayne Adams, Harrison Kane, Alex House
Director: Robert Allan Ackerman
Studio: Miramax
Product Type: DVD

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Pulling off the rare feat of winning Emmys for portraying the same role, Judy Davis and Tammy Blanchard raise this widely watched TV movie above the usual weepy-biopic standard. Since the project is based on a memoir by Lorna Luft, Judy Garland's "other" daughter, the emphasis is on Garland's rocky post-MGM years, spotlighting marriages, pills, and spectacular stage comebacks. Davis handles the neurotic swoops with authority; when Garland sighs on her birthday, "I'm 47 today--with my life, that makes me 412," you believe her. One thing she can't capture is Garland's onscreen incandescence: Davis's lip-syncing of "The Trolley Song" is expert but joyless. The luminous young Blanchard (who won the supporting actress trophy) has a physical and vocal resemblance to the former Frances Gumm that's often breathtaking, and the Wizard of Oz sequences look like outtakes from the real thing. Too much TV-flick telescoping dooms the movie to sketchiness, but those performances are over the rainbow. --Robert Horton

Description

The remarkable story of Hollywood legend Judy Garland is vividly told in this widely acclaimed film, which features amazing, Emmy Award-winning portrayals by Judy Davis (Best Actress) and Tammy Blanchard (Best Supporting Actress). Loved by millions the world over, Judy was the brightest star in Hollywood's Golden Era. Away from the bright lights and brilliant performances, however, her devotion was to her family. But while she loved her children unconditionally, they could only desperately try and hang on to their mother as a powerful dependence on alcohol and prescription drugs began to consume her life. Based on the book by Garland's daughter Lorna Luft, and honored recipient of 5 Emmy Awards, LIFE WITH JUDY GARLAND: ME AND MY SHADOWS is a deeply moving testament to the healing powers of embracing one's past, facing one's demons, and charting a course of self-discovery!

Customer Reviews:

Several Cut Scenes on the DVD version!!.......2007-05-23

This is a 5-star television movie and the performances are incredible as I'm sure you've read. However, on the DVD version, they cut out several scenes so I reccommend keeping your VHS copies. One scene is right before Judy performs The Trolley Song in Meet Me in St. Louis, her and Vicente are having an argument in her dressing room right before. Another scene is when she finds out her current boyfriend is having an affair with another man. He walks out of the room half-naked as Lorna and the housekeeper rush to help her take care of the bloody gash on her head. Another scene is when she is about to go on stage for a concert in Australia, and she is too disoriented to perform thus getting booed off the stage. There may be a couple more scenes but these ones I know of for sure. I wish studios would not release DVD's unless they do it right the first time!

Life with Judy Garland.......2007-01-16

Excellent performance by Judy Davis! A must see for Judy fans!

Judy Davis is BRILLIANT in her portrayal of Judy Garland!.......2006-08-11

Judy Davis' portrayal of Judy Garland In "Life with Judy Garland - Me and My Shadows" was nothing short of amazing. I have read the book upon which this movie is based and found it very difficult to put down. It is well written, straight from the heart and told from a view point which couldn't have been done any better than by Lorna Luft herself. Judy Davis does Judy Garland's memory nothing but honor in her portrayal of this vocal legend. The book and movie allows us to learn who Francis Ethel Gumm (aka Judy Garland) really was from the time she took her first steps on a stage at 2 years old, through her rise and demise as one of MGM's brightest stars through her uncomparable performance at Carnegie Hall to her untimely death. One may learn the pros and cons of life in show business while also seeing how crucial parental guidance and welfare for a child in this industry is. We are reminded of the great joy and entertainment Judy Garland brought to many lives and despite it all her determination to endure and go on even in the face of much physical and mental adversity. We're also reminded of the tremendous talent Judy Garland had and how she continues to inspire and be a role model and idol to many people today.

Amazing Film.......2006-08-02

Life with Judy Garland- Me and My Shadows is such an awesome film. I am a huge Judy Garland fan! The film was very well put together. The acting was incredible! Judy Davis really brought Garland to life. The story was also very well written. I highly recommend this film!

Judy Does Judy.......2006-07-30

In a review (basically favorable) I posted recently of the film HILARY AND JACKIE, I made the observation that film-bio's are, by definitiion, problematic. Every bit of cinematic license one takes with the story is going to be picked up by SOMEONE somewhere who will be quick to denounce said film as little more than a pack of lies. Or at least, if they're feeling generous, a jumble of truths and fictions.

Perusing some of the reviews below, I see that more avid fans of Judy Garland than I take exception to some of this film's representation's about the life and times of this hugely talented performer. Overall, however, it seems to be a more accurate film biography than many others I've seen (including the above cited HILARY & JACKIE). Like many casual fans, I am aware of the outlines of Ms. Garland's life and career, and the film, and by and large, the film adheres to those outlines.

Contributor Gary Taylor cites the scene where Judy's body is discovered by her last husband Mickey Deans as an example of the kind of innacuracies and distortions he finds disturbing. In reality, he reminds us, Deans didn't just walk into the bathroom to find Judy dead on the floor; he actually had to crawl out on the roof and through the window.

That's an interesting tid-bit and I thank Gary for it, since I certainly was not aware of that fact. And you know, it's just dramatic a true life event to make you wonder why the filmmakers did NOT incorporate it into the film. Wouldn't that have made a real corker of a scene? Well, maybe, but here's my take on it. Britisher Mickey Deans was married to Judy Garland only for a matter of weeks. Her family back in the States had never even met the man. The filmmakers (correctly, I think) did not attempt to flesh out Mr. Deans as a character or as a presence in Ms. Garland's life. Giving him a big dramatic moment when his character has never been established would likely have seemed a bit odd, dramatically speaking.

(It probably does not need to be reiterated once again that this film is based on a memoir by daughter-from-Judy's-second-marriage Lorna Luft, who does serve as narrator in the everpresent voiceover. For that reason alone the lack of emphasis on Judy's later marriages makes sound narrative sense. There also seems to be little reason to believe that neither her last marriage to Deans or the previous short lived liaison with Mark Herron were anywhere near as significant to Garland herself as either her first marriage to Vincente Minelli or her second to Sid Luft).

So I personally have little argument with the minor liberties this film takes with the facts of Judy Garland's life. And like many others who have posted reviews of the film, I have nothing but kudos for both actresses who portrayed Garland at different stages of her life and career. Judy Davis is just riveting as the older Judy. And Tammy Blanchard is a wonder as the adolescent star. Both certainly deserved the Emmys they won for their work on this film. Probably the only argument one could make regarding thecasting would be whether or not Blanchard should have been aged "up" a little to play Garland in her 20s rather than having Davis age "down" to take on those scenes. But then, 50-50 screen time for both actresses would likely have meant that neither of them would have walked away with an Emmy in either the "lead" or "supporting" categories.

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