Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (TV) | | Cast : | Judy Davis | | Director : | Robert Allan Ackerman | | Studio : | Miramax | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned | | Released Date : | February 25, 2001 | | DVD Released Date : | October 14, 2003 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | May 16, 2005 | | Summary | Judy Davis incredible | Content
 | Yes, Judy Davis does become Judy Garland so convincingly that you really have to keep reminding yourself it isn't. WHile this made for TV movie is a little patchy at times, it is the fine performances that make it a pleasure to watch. Even the actress who played the younger Judy delivers a fine performance. My only real complaint is the lip synching in the musical numbers by both actors is a little out.
DVD SUMMARY: the movie was shot on video tape and you can tell - the transfer isn't great by any means. Extras include a short "making of" and DVD trailer. Overall, I think the DVD is worth owning, just to showcase the great talent of Judy Davis. And even better, it is a movie which is hard to switch off, the three hours go by rapidly. Check it out! |
| Rating | | | Date | April 10, 2005 | | Summary | Well done bio pic...especially Made for Television | Content
| Tammy Blanchard and Judy Davis turn in fantastic performances in this crowd-pleasin' look at the train wreck that was poor Judy Garland's life. Lots of stunt casting (that teenage Liza really looks like the real deal! Great Mickey Rooney!) and classic film scene reenactments make this a hoot for film fans, but the hokey "Lorna Luft" voice over narration is not only biased to the daughter/author, it detracts from the great star turns of the two Judys.
The DVD special features are negligible...you can catch this in reruns on TV and get ample enjoyment out of it. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 29, 2004 | | Summary | Judy is Judy | Content
| No matter how great the actor is, how brilliant the screenplay might be, how accurate the recreation of a bygone era is, most biopics fall short and mostly disappoint. Not so with this incredible Television film. "My Life With Judy Garland - Me And My Shadows" is simply superb on all levels.
The attention to detail in recreating the many settings and eras of Judy Garland's life at M.G.M. and on the concert stage is wonderful. The cast of supporting players is perfect, especially Marsha Mason as Judy's mother.
But special kudos must go to Tammy Blanchard who plays the young Judy and to the incandescently incredible Judy Davis. Both performances are more than impersonations, each actress makes you forget performance and believe their magical recreations of Judy Garland.
But of the two Emmy awarded performances the most spectacular comes from Davis. She is uncanny in her choices and a revelation in her becoming the character. Most touching is the recreation of the "Star is Born" speech about Norman Main. This is an artist at work recreating the harrowing life of a legend. It is a full-blown portrait that covers the range of Garlands talent, humor and despair and great capacity for hurt and love. In scene after scene she is pure magic.
Special note on this DVD are the few extras that are not to be missed as well as a wonderful commentary track my Lorna Luft, director Robert Ackerman and costumer Donna Granada. Much thanks to must go to Lorna Luft for bringing this wonderful work to light.
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| Rating | | | Date | December 19, 2004 | | Summary | C'mon Get Happy-Life with Judy Garland | Content
| Me and My Shadows: Life with Judy Garland was a fascinating look at the life of Judy Garland from her daughter Lorna Luft's perspective.
The movie starts off when little Frances Gumm (Judy's real name) singing in her parents theater in Minnesota and ends with her death forty-five years later in England.
During that time there are highs (the birth of her children Liza, Lorna, and Joey; some incredible movies) and some lows (drugs, divorce, no money, going from hotel to hotel) but through it all she still retained her love for her children, and her humor.
This movie was absolutely great. I was not a Judy Garland fan before this, but after watching the movie and reading Lorna Luft's book I became one. Judy Davis did a superb job as the older Judy and Victor Garber was phenomenal as third husband Sid Luft ( father of Lorna and Joey)
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| Rating | | | Date | December 12, 2004 | | Summary | The Real Judy was Better | Content
| The telepic bio "Life with Judy Garland - Me and My Shadows" at least looks expensive and contains a thoughtful and intelligent performance by Judy Davis. However, if you really want the essence of Garland, watch her films and boxed sets of her 1963-1964 television show as well as her 1962 special with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. The lushly-mounted TV bio, based on "other daughter" Lorna Luft's book of the same name doesn't quite cut it as far as telling Judy's whole story, because there are plenty of things you can't tell on TV these days for fear of big fines. The boldest thing "M & MS" depicts is that yes, Judy's father was gay (this is demonstrated in a very brief male-to-male hand-holding shot), and yes, Judy did have a gay affair with vocal stylist Kay Thompson (Judy holds Kay's hand and says "I don't know what I would have done without you."), and it is worth noting that Lorna Luft, given producer's credit, vehemently protested such assertions in her book. There is also the strong suggestion in the teleplay that Liza's dad Vincente Minnelli, arguably the golden years' greatest director of film musicals, was gay. Lorna denies this in her book, which is like denying Bullwinkel is a moose. All in all, to get the essence of Garland, one needs to read the grittier bios of her life, and there are many. Couple that with her films, TV shows and records, and you'll get a good idea of who Judy was and why she is still a hot topic of conversation over 30 years after her death. Lorna either doesn't know much about her mother or, more probably, prefers to hold certain things back. One particular example says it all: Lorna's television version shows Judy found dead on the bathroom floor. Sad to say, it is a matter of public record that Judy, like fellow icon Elvis, died on the toilet. How do you portray that on ABC-Disney? One day the whole tale might be told, but more likely on the big screen.
Meanwhile, we have the real Judy, who, as Sinatra himself said,
will never be forgotten. |
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