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Tully

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source: Tully

I highly recommend trying out the tactic of not knowing anything going into a film and seeing everything play out on screen freshly. I did just that with Tully, and it was quite the refreshing experience. Directed by Jason Reitman and starring Charlize Theron, Tully is a uniquely genuine film about the tremendous amount of hardships a mother goes through on a day to day basis, all while making it look easy for the rest of us. It will be a controversial one for sure, because of a few specific directions the film takes (bold ones I may add), but ultimately it succeeds in the hands of Reitman and Theron, who truly add a high level of honesty to a project that needs an audience to feel the humanity in Theron's Marlo. In short, Tully may be one of those great summer films that ends up getting forgot about come Oscar time, a la The Big Sick. 8.2/10

I'll start with the acting. Mothers are clearly the focus; you barely notice the characters Mark Duplass and Ron Livingston play. Charlize Theron is great, I mean I'm slightly biased because I admire her work, but I really think she did a fantastic job. She plays the role of Marlo with such conviction, creating empathy, pathos and humour with almost every line. Mackenzie Davis' take on the titular role was good, but I wasn't sold on her vivacious attitude and I could tell she was acting. I love when an actor is so fully immersed in a character that you forget that they're even playing a role...this wasn't the case with Davis. The ending...so it turns out that Tully wasn't real and was actually a physical manifestation of Marlo's younger self (Tully being her maiden name). Whilst I was surprised by the turn in narrative, I had my suspicions. Marlo mentioned she majored in English Literature, and then Tully too casually quoted Samuel Pepys. The awkward meeting between Marlo and her old roommate and then Tully's musings about her difficult relationship with her roommate. And what nanny would partake in a threesome with her employers...? So it wasn't exactly a shocking revelation but an interesting one. The ending seems to have angered a lot of people, with respect to the way the film portrayed and dealt with postnatal depression. As someone who hasn't had children or suffered from a mental illness in relation to childbirth, I can't comment on something I have no experience of. But one thing I will say is that I wish it had been explored in more depth. Mental illness, an extremely important issue, was revealed at the end in quite a drastic way (the car crash) and then the film basically finishes. Well we get a short farewell between Marlo and Tully, which I think was meant to represent her coming to terms with her illness while also appreciating how it may have helped her through a tough moment in motherhood. And then BAM, Marlo's back home. And she's spending time with her son and making lunches with her husband...it just felt very rushed. I mean, maybe that's the point? That when mothers are suffering, they put it aside and get on with life for the benefit of their children...? Who knows? I certainly don't, but there's no harm in speculating.

I suppose "Tully" is Reitman and Cody trying to be a little more realistic. Unfortunately it is also the least enjoyable movie they have made together. Cody's specialty is quirky characters. Here, the flake (the titular Tully) is more weird and irritating, and not interesting in the least. None of the characters really generate any interest. The only plot thread in the movie I could begin to care about was the central question of Charlize Theron's Marlo (why such a weird name?) being stressed and overworked by her new baby and unclassifiable son. Other characters in the movie feel underdone, and I found myself thinking the movie would work better without them. Marlo has a husband played by Ron Livingston who doesn't seem to be helping her. Why not? He's not portrayed as a bad guy, or as any kind of guy. Just ineffective. Why doesn't she ask him for more help, if she's so stressed she's having nightmares? The eventual appearance of Tully - which doesn't happen until half an hour into this 90 minute movie - is like something out of a horror movie. Her introduction is less quirky than terrifying, trying to peer through the window. Who would let this person near their kid? It made me wonder if this was a grown up Juno - perhaps with the sassy youthful spirit crushed by life so that she is now still making inappropriate comments, just without the energy to be witty. There is one truly bizarre, out of nowhere scene where Tully seduces the Livingston character while Theron watches - "I'll tell you what he likes." This scene is just so unbelievable that it approaches surrealism. It's one of those movie moments that has you waiting for the "it was only a dream" quick-edit, and when that doesn't come, you are frowning in disbelief, wondering what the filmmakers were thinking. And lastly, the movie has the tiresome shaky camera thing going in every scene. How long has it been since that made a film feel more realistic? Ten years? Twenty? Now all it does it distance you from characters that are impossible to believe in the first place. You can feel them trying their heart out to make it seem more realistic, and all that does is remind you how unbelievable it all is.

Tully is a return to form for both director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody. Featuring great performances, an unflinching and engrossing look on motherhood and a witty, acerbic script. Tully is a film worth looking out for.

In the bonus segment of the DVD of "Tully," the director described the film's theme as turning the page of life and saying "good-bye to your youth." But this conceit was taken to the extreme in the main context of parenting, as depicted in the film. The clear implication was that for the protagonist named Marlo Moreau, having babies and raising a family is synonymous with giving up one's ideals, goals, and dreams. This strange concept was borne out in the film with so much time spent in the mundane details of parenthood, including long scenes dealing with breast-pumping and breastfeeding, sleepless nights, fighting traffic with a screaming kid in the car, dealing with the school principal, and other issues that every parent has to face. After discussing the grim realities of child rearing, the film artists in the special features section of the DVD praised one another for how brilliant they were as actors, screenwriter, and director. But the proof of the brilliance is in the final product, and "Tully" turned out to be a dud. The main problem was in the title character of Tully herself, a "night nanny" who is brought in as a relief pitcher to assist the beleaguered mother Marlo, who has just delivered her third child. After child #2, Marlo had major coping problems, and it turned out that the kid Jonah was "quirky," leading to his dismissal from school and a lot of denial on the part of the parents. Marlo seems to lack patience with everyone and is "tired" all the time. The visual image that recurs in the film is of Marlo drowning. To get Marlo some much needed rest, she and her husband decide to bring on the night nanny. A crucial reference early in the film is to Brooklyn where Marlo grew up in the Bushwick neighborhood. Eventually, she will pay a visit to her old stomping grounds, get drunk on "neat" bourbons, steal a bicycle, take a walk down memory lane, and make the stupid decision of trying to drive home, thereby committing a DUI that is never mentioned in the film. The puzzling figure in the film is Tully. As a paid helper, Tully provides far greater "services" to both parents than merely looking after their kid. Eventually, the filmmakers play a trick on the audience with the character Tully. SPOILER ALERT: It turns out that Marlo's maiden name was Tully, and the Tully character is a mirror image (or fantasy) of Marlo's lost youth. But was there really a night nanny in the home? Did Tully appear only in Marlo's imagination? Or was there an actual nanny that became distorted in Marlo's mind as her youthful döppelganger? This narrative made no sense because the husband knew about the night nanny and acknowledged her presence. Clearly, the filmmakers were shamelessly manipulating the viewers without ever providing closure on the plot trick. Early in the film, there was an offhand reference by Marlo that her life seemed like a Lifetime movie. But it turned out that was precisely what this film was all about as a big-budget Lifetime-style film, leading the audience astray to be bushwacked in Bushwick.

A heartwarming movie about a struggling mother of two, who is also pregnant with her third child. The boy is "quirky" and needs special attention which doesn't make matter easier. When the third baby is born it gets even harder for her. Luckily much needed help arrives in the form of Tully, seemingly a young hip version of Mary Poppins, who helps her with the kids and also to find herself again. The movie is funny, weird and moving. Charlize Theron and Mackenzie Davies are both good in it. Glad I saw it and would definitely recommend!