Based on her daughter's memoirs, this biopic boasts two outstanding renditions of Judy Garland. Tammy Blanchard’s wide-eyed enthusiasm as the younger Judy Garland effectively conveys the star’s nervous energy as she giddily bounds between stage and film, with more than a little help from studio supplied pills. Blanchard also skilfully negotiates the transition from sweet, innocent child star to the worldlier adolescent, which is more than can be said for the biopic's handling of the change of actresses portraying Garland. Yet once this abrupt swap has taken place, Judy Davis grabs the film by the scruff of the neck and delivers a knockout performance.

Part of Garland’s greatness was that she didn’t just sing a song, she inhabited it, and in having an actress of Davis’s prowess portraying Garland, this quality shines through. Not only does she uncannily mimic the star’s grand gestures in both concert and film, but she also sells "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by doing nothing more than sitting down and miming to Garland’s vocals.

Despite the raw emotion of Garland’s fragility being painful to watch at times, there are many humorous moments, sometimes contained within the same scene. Still, by the conclusion of the biopic the viewer truly understands why one of her Oz co-stars said at her funeral - "She just plain wore out."