Renée’s incredible Judy Garland

Has acting in biopics become the best way to an award-winning performance these days? Looks like it has and who can blame actors for thinking that way. Last year, Rami Malek’s turn as Freddy Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody generated not only a Best Actor Academy Award, plus other trophies and over $900M  in box-office earnings for the Queen biopic.

All set to keep the trend hotly burning is the British actor Taron Egerton whose turn as Elton John in the biopic Rocketman is already getting strong Oscar buzz. Why, it is being touted as better than Rami’s. Both roles battled repressive upbringings and prejudices against homosexuality with strong, sensitive portrayals. But unlike Rami who lip-synched to Freddy’s vocals, Taron did his own singing. 

That is not the end of the biopic trend for the year. It looks like we could be looking at a pair of biopic winners come next awards season. That means Best Actor trophies for Taron and Best Actress wins for Renée Zellweger for her incredible work in Judy which is about five weeks in the life of the fabulous singer and actress Judy Garland.

Based on the play End of the Rainbow by Peter Quilter, the movie finds Judy bankrupt financially, struggling with depression, alcoholism and drug use, while trying to keep her family together. She arrives in London to perform at the Talk of the Town and it is from there that the film directed by Rupert Goold goes through flashbacks of her career as an MGM star most notably as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, present-day occurrences like meeting her fifth husband Mickey Dean, new friends that provide her some respite and then performing in the actual show. 

Renée, star of Bridget Jones Diary, won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the Civil War drama Cold Mountain.  She also has solid credentials working in musicals. Her Roxie Hart in Chicago earned her Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild wins. Despite knowing that she can do the job, the first sight of her as Judy in the film’s trailer elicited awed gasps and produced goosebumps. Renée had become Judy.

 Make-up probably played some part in the transformation but the stance, the hand gestures, the look of breathless expectation are so much like the screen Judy we have become familiar with. And she did not lip-synch. Renée used her own voice in the singing parts and she sounded just like Judy. Not the Judy of clear tones of Over The Rainbow from The Wizard of Oz but of the 47-year-old Judy holding on to dear life. Renée did it just like Judy would have.

Renée has not done a movie in six years and that wait paid off with Judy. Unless some British actress suddenly pulls the rug under her feet with a performance in a movie we had not heard of, it looks like she is a shoo-in. I fear for Taron though because there is the huge shadow of Joaquin Phoenix as Joker darkening his chances. 

Come to think of it, Joaquin was also a hot favorite to win as Best Actor as Johnny Cash for Walk the Line in 2006. But it was Philip Seymour Hoffman who brought home the trophy for Capote. Well, this might finally be his year for Best Actor although Taron might still pull an upset. 

Now, just in case you are one of those whose interest in biopics about music stars was only recently pique after watching Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody, here are some excellent choices from the past:

Walk the Line about the country music legend Johnny Cash played by Joaquin and his wife, June Carter played by Reese Witherspoon who bagged an Oscar for her work; Ray, about the rise to fame and struggles with racism and drug use of the legendary Ray Charles with an Academy Award-winning performance by Jamie Foxx in the title role.

Great Balls of Fire starring Dennis Quaid as rock and roll star Jerry Lee Lewis and Winona Ryder as the 13-year-old cousin whom he married; La Bamba starring Lou Diamond Philips as Richie Valens; The Doors with Val Kilmer as James Morrison; Notorious with Jamal Wooland and Anthony Mackie as the tragic pair of Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur; and Straight Outta Compton about Dr. Dre and Ice Cube during the early years of the rap music scene.

And to look forward to there are Elvis starring Austin Butler as Elvis Presley and Tom Hanks as his manager Col. Tom Parker and directed by Baz Luhrmann; Respect about who else but Aretha Franklin with Jennifer Hudson in the title role, who Aretha handpicked for the part; and then maybe Stardust about David Bowie, Blonde Ambition about Madonna and The Power of Love about Celine Dion.