Hathaway-Garland

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Because Anne Hathaway was so good as a neurotic, drug-addled wreck in Rachel Getting Married, swaggering producer-mogul Harvey Weinstein has persuaded her to become officially "attached" -- i.e., interested but unsigned -- to play the famously neurotic, drug-addled neurotic Judy Garland in both stage and film adaptations of Gerald Clarke's Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland, which the Weinstein Company has optioned the film and stage rights for.

Anne Hathaway; Judy Garland in the mid '60s.

Hathaway also resembles the younger, unspoiled Garland of the 1940s and early '50s, and could be made up to look like the lined, haggard and agitated woman she became toward the end of her life.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on March 23, 2009 at 12:37 PM

comment #1

Calraigh Bracken says ...

And she can sing. Really good casting choice.
Gold, I tells ya.

Posted by Calraigh Bracken at March 23, 2009 1:05 PM

comment #2

Edward says ...

That's a good stretch for her; I think she could pull this off. Only heard her sing on the Oscar's, but she did a good job. Not sure if she has the chops to actually sing like the great Garland, however.

Posted by Edward at March 23, 2009 1:05 PM

comment #3

Chicago48 says ...

She can pull it off, but Judy Davis gave a stellar award winning portrayal of Garland for ABC a few years ago. It still haunts me, her portrayal was spot on. I don't think she's done anything near that good since.
Anyway, Hathaway would be really good, but stage version? They're doing Broadway?

Posted by Chicago48 at March 23, 2009 1:09 PM

comment #4

Josh Massey says ...

An actress from Brokeback Mountain playing Judy Garland? It's about time gays got a new diva to worship. Cher's just too damn old.

Posted by Josh Massey at March 23, 2009 1:09 PM

comment #5

Joshua Mooney says ...

More of a stretch for Judy, actually. Hathaway's gotta be 8 inches taller than she was.

Posted by Joshua Mooney at March 23, 2009 1:10 PM

comment #6

crazyeight says ...

Sheesh, if you're going to post that (very common) photo of Hathaway, the least you could do was crop it low enough to show her magical side-boob.

Boo, hiss.

Posted by crazyeight at March 23, 2009 1:12 PM

comment #7

Sabina E says ...

Oh god. Not another biopic about a self-destructive celebrity... no thanks.

Posted by Sabina E at March 23, 2009 1:18 PM

comment #8

arturobandini2 says ...

Does anybody really want to see Hathaway do Garland? I know I don't. Judy already did Judy, like what, 8 years ago? I bet even the Stonewall survivors are bored with the old worm castle by now.

But given the resemblance, it would be fun to see Hathaway do Liza. Thin Liza, fat Liza, coked-up Liza, reality TV star Liza. Then Judy Davis could have a few scenes reprising Mommie Dipso, and just consider the supporting cast potential ... Hugh Jackman as Peter Allen ... The Rock as David Gest. But who'd play Vincente Minelli? And Martin Scorsese?

Posted by arturobandini2 at March 23, 2009 1:21 PM

comment #9

JT says ...

Mark my words: This will be HUGE, I tells ya. $600 million in N. America alone.

Posted by JT at March 23, 2009 2:04 PM

comment #10

AH says ...

I can't wait for Hollywood to stop making movies about itself ... No one gives a shit!

Posted by AH at March 23, 2009 2:09 PM

comment #11

BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey says ...

I watched Rachel Getting Married last night. Good Christ, it was awful. Perhaps the most skin-crawlingly irritating film I've seen. Hathaway was annoying beyond belief.

I hated how self-consciously quirky and boho it was. Even the scene when they were planning the seating arrangements bugged the shit out of me. Each person was represented by some cutesy vintage toy or figurine. And the set-piece involving the two men stacking the dishwasher? Fuck me, that was twee. Who the hell was the moron playing the Dad? You'll never see a gushier, camper, more luvvy performance this side of musical theatre.

The rest of it was a series of speeches and arguments. Like a shit evening at a Greenwich Village wine bar with a bunch of hipster wankers and their twatty violins.

"Look how dysfunctional we are! But look at how we can all come together to celebrate and hug and kiss each other!"

Absolutely fucking rubbish. Hathaway should be banned, or sent out to ocean in a barrel or something. I genuinely never want to see her rubbishness on my screen again.

Posted by BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey at March 23, 2009 2:12 PM

comment #12

lazespud says ...

It's hard to imagine anyone topping that performance of Judy Davis. Jesus she was intensely good.

That said, the greatest thing I've ever heard is those rambling audio recordings she did in the mid 60s with the hope of a writer turning her blathering into a memoir. It's the funniest, craziest, and most depressing thing ever. And anyone who even approaches how Garland sounded in those tapes would be accused of going way over the top. That's why Davis was so perfect; she was incredibly intense and seemingly over the top; yet she was about 50 percent of the full Judy at her madness...

Here's a site with a couple of clips from the tapes. It gives you a flavor, but there's nothing like hearing the full magilla as she descends into a narcissistic, drug-addled rage. It's like King Lear raging against the tempest.

http://theoisamazing.blogspot.com/2008/04/judy-garland-secret-tapes.html

Posted by lazespud at March 23, 2009 2:13 PM

comment #13

LexG says ...

I think Hathaway is one of the most stunningly beautiful and charismatic actresses around.

Well, at least based solely on Havoc, Get Smart and Brokeback Mountain.

Other than those three, she seems to be hellbent on NEVER making a movie I -- or any hetero admirer of hers -- would ever actively want to watch.

Posted by LexG at March 23, 2009 2:28 PM

comment #14

Joshua Mooney says ...

Dude! My wife had the EXACT same reaction. Oh, how she despised it! I found many things to like about it, including Hathaway's performance, but I agree it was one of the most over-praised movies of last year. I will say, in its favor, that bad movies can never be "irritating." It wasn't bad, it was self-indulgent. I'm actually writing this simply because you used the word "twee" to describe the dishwasher scene, and it is, of course, the right word. Le mote juste, as the Germans say. I couldn't put my finger on it at the time. You have done so. Attention must be paid.

BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey says ...
I watched Rachel Getting Married last night. Good Christ, it was awful. Perhaps the most skin-crawlingly irritating film I've seen. Hathaway was annoying beyond belief.

Posted by Joshua Mooney at March 23, 2009 2:42 PM

comment #15

Rich S. says ...

One of the reasons Garland had such a hellish life at MGM in the early going was that she struggled mightily with her weight. A lot of her later neuroses can be traced directly back to her days as "the fat ugly girl who could outsing Ethel Merman," and the lunatic lengths MGM went to to mold her into a star.

Hathaway has always been gorgeous and, if anything, she's had the opposite problem with her weight. Not saying she can't do it, but personally she comes at the role from precisely the wrong angle.

Posted by Rich S. at March 23, 2009 2:44 PM

comment #16

JT says ...

RGM is shite. AH is the only good thing in it and the truly great scene (and hte only good one) was her confession at the NA meeting. Beyond that, it's nothing but a liberal smugfest. DO NOT get me started on the black guy singing NEIL YOUNG at his wedding. For someone who has worked with Neil Young, pretty amazing that Mr. Demme doesn't undertand the song. UNKNOWN LEGEND IS NOT about some hot, slightly older, rich white road in the NE. Rant over.

Posted by JT at March 23, 2009 3:17 PM

comment #17

Mark says ...

"Pretty amazing that Mr. Demme doesn't undertand the song."

IMO, it's pretty amazing that few here understand Demme. Yes, it goes for tears at times, and there's one too many hugs with exaggerated meanings, but RGM is far from a straight drama. Though he's sympathetic to his characters, Demme is also satiring them, much as he did in Melvin and Howard.

i watched RGM much as I would watch an episode of The Office, and loved it.

Posted by Mark at March 23, 2009 3:54 PM

comment #18