Tully (2018) [Blu-ray]
Comedy | Drama
Tagline: See How the Mother Half Lives.
A new comedy from Academy Award (R)-nominated director Jason Reitman ("Up in the Air") and Academy Award (R)-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody ("Juno"). Marlo (Academy Award (R) winner Charlize Theron), a mother of three including a newborn, is gifted a
night nanny by her brother (Mark Duplass). Hesitant to the extravagance at first, Marlo comes to form a unique bond with the thoughtful, surprising, and sometimes challenging young nanny named Tully (Mackenzie Davis).
Storyline: The film is about Marlo, a mother of three, including a newborn. Marlo's brother gives her a night nanny as a gift. Hesitant with the extravagance at first, Marlo comes to form a unique bond with the thoughtful,
surprising, and sometimes challenging young nanny named Tully.
Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, July 13, 2018 Tully is a film about an overstressed, overworked, and overtired mother of three, including a special needs son and a newborn baby girl. The film explores the
weight of her burdens, physical, emotional, and psychological alike. What begins as a straight film concerned with a woman breaking and seeking a little help becomes something much more involved, complex, and satisfying: a film of identity, doubt, fear,
and, ultimately, acceptance. To dive further would be to do a disservice to the film's true intent and revelations, but suffice it to say this is an evolving story with an ever-changing perspective on its overwhelmed central character and how she handles
the realities of her increasingly stressful and fatiguing place in life. Written by Diablo Cody and Directed by Jason Reitman, who previously collaborated on both Juno and Young Adult (the latter also starring Charlize Theron), Tully
explores motherhood in the sort of raw, unforgiving light that has heretofore been absent in movies, be they more humorous looks at the child raising process or more focused dramas centered around the same subject.
Marlo (Theron) is a mother of two, including a young special needs son, who is deep into her third pregnancy. Her husband Drew (Ron Livingston) loves her and his family, but he's not much help around the house, preferring to spend his downtime away from
work playing his Xbox. When Marlo and Drew visit her wealthy brother Craig (Mark Duplass), he offers to hire her a "night nanny," someone who will come to the house and watch over the baby at night, allowing mother to get some much-needed rest. She
brushes the idea off at first, but weeks after the baby has been born, as she's struggling to keep up with her new daughter, never mind her two other children, she cracks under the pressure and hires the nanny. She soon meets Tully (Mackenzie Davis),
someone who is everything Marlo no longer is: a spunky and spirited younger woman with boundless energy, a perfect body, and plenty of know-how around babies, even though it's obvious she herself has never birthed her own. As Tully takes charge and allows
Marlo to get some much needed rest, the two form a bond and quickly become friends, but a wrinkle in the relationship hides under the surface.
Tully isn't a story about raising a baby. It's instead about rebuilding a mother. Certainly the movie does a wonderful job of depicting not only the stress of new motherhood but also the emotional baggage that comes with it, compounded by raising
two other children, one of whom is a handful, to say the least. But the film is not just a collection of scenes of 3AM feedings and a burned-out and overtired mommy struggling to get through her day. Those are the springboards for the larger story, and
while they're familiar refrains to anyone who has experienced the joys, and burdens and sacrifices, of raising a child, the film's primary focus evolves over its runtime.
Tully's second half is a tonal departure and sometimes seemingly a mismatch for the first, transitioning from a tale of a tired mama to the story of a burgeoning friendship between two very different individuals, different in terms of age, energy
level, body image, and confidence. Tully is everything Marlo is not, or at least everything Marlo perhaps once was: young, spunky, spirited, athletic, blessed with a toned body and endless energy. But she's also not everything she appears to be.
Tully's second half may not appear to be a natural extension of its first half, but it's actually a more complimentary and revealing continuation than anything else the film might have depicted, including just staying the course and leading Marlo
to a generic and predictable state of motherly bliss and balanced living. The film has a remarkable twist to reveal that may not be novel but that does play as a genuine, natural extension of Marlo's life as it is.
And the reveal, and everything leading to it, demands a perfectly tuned performance, which Theron provides with faultless excellence. It's a transformative work. Not only did the actress reportedly pack on 50 pounds for the role, she also embraces and
dives headfirst and unapologetically to several very dark places that may not flatter motherhood but that do reveal it in a harshly true light. Indeed, the physical aspect pales to the inner workings and emotional wear and psychological complexities that
define the character from the beginning and evolve over time, as she births her third child, surrenders to the idea of hiring the night nanny, and begins what becomes a fairly intimate and revealing relationship with Tully. Mackenzie Davis is terrific as
the title character, a perfect counterbalance to her older, more physically fatigued, and emotionally drained companion. She reveals character intricacies throughout that only in hindsight lead the viewer to the masked truth about her, including a scene
in which she reveals her growing fatigue with her roommate, with whom she is "meshed," a scene that takes on much greater meaning by film's end. Ron Livingston is terrific as the loving but somewhat obtuse father.
Tully is an amazing little film that may be Diablo Cody's best work yet. It's relatable but beautifully complex, dour yet hopeful in its depiction of motherhood and all of the challenges -- physical, emotional, and psychological -- that come with
the territory. It's nicely directed and terrifically performed. It's not to be missed. Universal's Blu-ray release of Tully features solid video, more than capable audio, and one extra. Highly recommended.
[CSW] -3.3- This reviewer said it better than I could:
First this is no comedy. It is the story of a mother, Marlo (Theron) who is 40 years old with a young son who is somewhat of a problem child, a young daughter and a child on the way. And a husband who is not that supportive. After the birth
of the baby she is up most of the night and constantly tired. In essence she is over burden, over weight and depressed with her life. A comedy it is not. Her wealthy brother steps in to help by hiring a night nanny named Tully. Remember that name as it
will appear later in the film. She is a truly wonderful, played by Mackenzie Davis. She takes care of the baby, cleans the house, makes cup cakes for the kids provides good advise to Marlo and brightens her spirits. Finally Marlo gets to sleep and begins
to get her life back. The cast is terrific - starting with Charilize Theron, who gains 50 pounds for the role. Brings back memories of her Oscar winning role in Monster, circa 2003. Mackenzie Davis plays a cute 26 year old, who is wise beyond her
years and is very, very believable. The rest of the cast is also good, with Mark Duplass as the husband, etc. It has a real twist ending. Will not go beyond this point. Well deserving of 3.3 stars.
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A true tale of mother hood where the rescuer is the rescued.
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