Directed by: Jason Reitman
Starring: Charlize Theron, Ron Livingston, Mackenzie Davis, Mark Duplass, Elaine Tan
The supposed message of Tully is to be appreciative of what you have and enjoy every unpredictable minute of motherhood. However, the perky ending just rings false, not after watching what transpired previously and what poor mom goes through.
Tully is the latest film pairing of director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody. I wasn't a fan of Juno (2007), although many people were. I found its title character cold and unapproachable. Their next collaboration was the much more successful Young Adult (2011), which starred Theron as an alcoholic children's book author who returns to her hometown and tries to steal her former boyfriend away from his pregnant wife. "We'll beat this thing together," she tells her intended, and it is one of the funniest lines I've ever heard in a movie.
Tully's first half hour or so is dedicated to showing us just how put-upon Marlo (Theron), the very pregnant soon-to-be mother of three is. Her life sucks, folks, no denying it. She is about to pop, but still has to trudge her kids off to school. Her younger son, Jonah, may or may not be autistic, but he requires a nightly brushing down of his skin from his mom.
Marlo's husband, Drew (Livingston) works all day and loves his family and all, but chooses to unwind playing video games before bed while Marlo toils away at putting the kids to bed. Drew isn't an absent or unloving father, but it would take a catastrophic emergency to pry him away from his game. Marlo is sleep deprived and overworked, but relief comes in the form of twenty-something Tully (Davis), a "night nanny" recommended by Marlo's rich brother (Duplass) who watches the baby at night, while Marlo sleeps. Marlo is no longer harried or tired. She is sleeping well now and is much more productive and loving towards all. If Marlo could only talk Tully into adopting her newborn, then her life would be perfect.
Davis is as wide-eyed, optimistic, and heavenly as Theron is earthy and edgy. These are nice contrasting performances. Marlo sees a lot of herself in Tully, and perhaps wishes to live vicariously through the seemingly uncomplicated godsend. But is Tully too good to be true? In some ways and in some ways no. You will see what I mean. Livingston is also his usual dependable comic self who comes to realize he takes Marlo for granted and learns to take on a bigger role in the family.
The final act of Tully flies off into flights of fancy which don't mesh with the earlier, more authentic scenes of Marlo's motherhood. They help bring Marlo, and everything else into greater focus, but it also pushes on us a moral which I'm not sure the movie itself believes. After watching Marlo nearly destroy herself raising three children, and look like she is minutes away from a nervous breakdown, are we really expected to believe that this is all somehow a wonderful thing? Being a parent has its moments of sheer frustration, but also more than enough moments of love and joy. It really isn't a drag, but Tully goes so far overboard in bringing us such a negative view of motherhood that we wonder why anyone would be insane enough to do it. That is the real message of this movie, whether Reitman and Cody care to admit it or not.
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