Rating: 
Summary: C'mon Get Happy-Life with Judy Garland
Review: 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)
Rating: 
Summary: Life with Judy Garland - as "acted" by Judy Davis
Review: My "rating" is actually a ZERO, except it wasn't allowed. This is a piece of acting tripe. I barely made it thru the 1st night of this when it was on TV; didn't even bother with the 2nd night, I was that disgusted. Judy Davis didn't know ANYTHING about Judy Garland & it shows. Supposedly she studied her. Well, she didn't absorb what she watched & read, for it certainly doesn't show! I'm ashamed of Lorna for thinking Judy Davis could do her mother justice!! The girl that played child Judy EXTREMELY WELL would have been a MUCH better choice. With the skills they had even then they should have just aged HER, instead of TRYING to make Judy Davis look young - didn't work. Judy Davis is HORRIBLE! I do NOT recommed Judy Davis' "Life with Judy Garland".Yes, Judy Davis received an Emmy for her portrayal, but, YOU KNOW how THAT goes. She apparently KNEW someone!
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Summary: Judy is Judy
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty damn good.
Review: Okay, I felt compelled to review this after I read this last review, here. It's frighteningly accurate, actually, but doesn't shed a terribly good light on Lorna, who I'm really quite fond of. Her book gives wonderful insights into her mother as does this movie. This last review also doesn't describe Judy quite accurately. Judy was an optimistic soul, but the last hour of M&MS is quite good, IMO. She *had* gone out of her mind from the pills and *was* constantly at odds with anything and everything. While not giving the whole picture, this DVD is a worthwhile watch and very nicely done. Everything couldn't be recreated perfectly and Judy Davis did a pretty damn good job trying to do the impossible.
Rating: 
Summary: JUDY DAVIS TOO OLD TO PLAY JUDY GARLAND
Review: Okay, I guess I'm the only one it bothered! Tammy Blanchard as the teenage Judy looked great but when Judy Davis appeared as Judy in her twenties I found it distracting. She was too old and not as good-looking! The real Judy was a young pretty woman when she sang the trolley song in the movie, Meet Me in St. Louis. When Judy Davis recreated that scene in the movie she might as well have had a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of scotch in the other to explain the wrinkles on her face! The makeup man couldn't even hide them. Couldn't they have put some gauze over the lens? Our Judy started off pretty in the movie with Tammy Blanchard playing her and then that was lost forever when Miss Davis appeared. They went to great lengths to recreate the costumes Miss Garland wore but unfortunately they had to put an old body into them. It made the rest of the movie frustrating for me. I kept thinking, "they finally make a movie about Judy - couldn't they find any younger prettier actresses to play Judy?"
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Summary: Gripping Account of a Sad but Gifted Life
Review: Superstar flops. Superstar finally dies at age 47 but is, in truth, probably about 102. World doesn't talk about her much after that, probably realizing deep down that it fueled the system that utterly destroyed one of the most spectacular, sensitive, incandescent human talents that ever lived. This well-produced film, and the performances of the actresses in particular, capture the sadness of this unique woman's life. In our modern age where rehab is an everyday yawn for our "celebs," someone should have--could have--done more to help this woman in her youth. She might have stood a chance. The moment she died was probably the biggest relief Judy Garland ever experienced. The world should wish her well and never forget her incomparable gifts.
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Summary: Audio Commentary
Review: The audio commentary on this DVD release is wonderful. Director Robert Allen Ackerman, costume designer Dona Granta, director of photography James Chressanthis, and co-executive producer Lorna Luft all come together, watch the entire miniseries and explain many behind the scenes situations scene by scene. You will have so much more appreciation for the hard work and dedication that went into the making of this miniseries and you will appreciate the artistry of Judy Garland much more after listening to the commentary. Mr. Ackerman gives one of the best descriptions of Judy Garland --"She didn't feel she WAS Judy Garland, but that she had to BE Judy Garland."
Rating:
Summary: Not bad as intro to Judy - but A&E Bio is BEST
Review: The film is wonderful while Tammy Blanchard is the young Judy. But when the 40+ Judy Davis appears as 22 year old Judy with YELLOW (not auburn) hair to recreate "The Trolley Song" - the bio slips into a typcially banal TV "movie of the week" syndrome. In trying to re-create magical sequences like "The Trolley Song" and "The Man That Got Away," the producers of the film seem to be saying "look how perfectly we've recreated this sequence right down to the costumes on the extras - aren't we clever!" But there's only one Judy Garland - and Davis looks like she's trying too hard to copy the same movements as the original films - it's quite disarming to watch. The producers of the film would have done better to leave these classic sequences alone, and done what they did with the "Oz" sequences - and that is to show her on the set and give the viewers more behind-the-scenes action. The video of the film that ABC sold when it premiered in Spring of 2001 DID have a few extra sequences, including more in the dressing room before the filming of "The Trolley Song." And those outtakes are far more interesting than the musical re-creations. Davis shines when she re-does Judy's Palace performance of "Over The Rainbow" as well as in the Carnegie Hall sequences. And in most of the later years scenes. However, the last hour becomes a series of Judy as Judy constantly being angry or freaked out from her (according to the film) roller coaster drug induced emotions. And arguing with EVERYONE. And it really is more Judy Davis than Judy Garland when these scenes take over. The real Judy actually was a fun loving, happy and OPTIMISTIC soul - but you'd never know it from this film. It's not Davis' fault, but the fault of the film makers that they only show the bad things in Judy's life from around 1943 on. It doesn't help that the book this film is supposedly based on comes from daughter Lorna - the middle child and "Jan Brady" of Garland's kids. "Me And My Shadows" would translate into "Me IN the shadows of Mama and Liza." And Lorna isn't very objective when it comes to her mother's life in the 1960's. The parts of the film that take place before Lorna was born have MANY dialog and situations obviously taken (almost verbatim) from Gerald Frank's massive biography "Judy." With Lorna as one of the producers, it's interesting that she would allow them to use such dialog from a book that her estranged father (Sid Luft, Judy's 3rd husband) had much to do with. The film really loses steam when it suddenly concentrates on teenage Lorna dealing with an addicted parent - too brief to really make an impact. And too boring too - we've seen this story before in way too many Lifetime movies!! But Lorna has her own agenda...(which is another story for a different review). But - this film is worth a look if you CAN RENT IT - to get a feel for the BASICS of Judy Garland's life - and it's really quite wonderful in showing her early, formative years at MGM and her obvious special bond with her father. Aside from all that, it's MUCH better to watch the A&E Special Biography about the REAL Judy Garland - listen to the Rhino CD "Judy Garland In Hollywood/Her Greatest Movie Hits" - and read John Fricke's "Judy Garland The World's Greatest Entertainer." Then you'll really get a feel for the the real JUDY GARLAND.
Rating: 
Summary: The Real Judy was Better
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: problem with vhs i pruchased at a store
Review: the vhs i bought was missing some key scenes i hope this dvd does not follow suit
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