They hound people in this world, Rene Zellweger says in the new biopic Judy . Really, its her character, Judy Garland, who says it, but it might as well be Zellweger herself. Who can better relate to such a sentiment than someone who retreated from the public eye for four years, only to return to vicious commentary about her appearance? Zellwegers struggles may not have involved Garlands addictions and custody battle, but the 50-year-old actor nonetheless brings a meta connection to the renaissance shes currently enjoying on behalf of Judy.

In the rousing showbiz lark Chicago, which came on the heels of her star-making turns in Jerry Maguire and Bridget Joness Diary, Zellweger played a striver seduced by the glitz of fame. In Judy, she plays a bigwig hiding from it. As thoroughly as she morphs into Garland, that famous Zellweger panache doesnt go anywhere. The acting tics that made her a powerhouse of the 2000s distended lips, shy smile, breathy vehemence, fidgety arms are essential here. Those years when Hollywood reduced her to the dowdy wife (Cinderella Man) or the self-absorbed clich (New in Town), only to later question why she could have wanted to escape herself cosmetically, become the fulcrum for Zellwegers rebound.

Watching Judy, which chronicles its subjects final year, specifically her five-week residency at a London nightclub in 1969, is like watching Zellweger walk a tightrope. Can she pull off the complex physicality and robust contralto? Garlands fans used to wonder the same thing. When Zellweger soars, so does your heart. The movie is most alive during her musical numbers. Judy takes the stage to perform Over the Rainbow, and its a once-in-a-lullaby trance an artist who is, finally, where shes meant to be, just as Zellweger is meant to be onscreen. Thats a triumphant arc, as if the movie exists to remind us what brought Zellweger to our attention in the first place. The story of a Hollywood dignitary subsumed by an industry that applies heightened scrutiny to women finds added resonance.