Tully

Movie Name: Tully
Year of Release: 2018
Director: Jason Reitman
Starring: Charlize Theron, Mackenzie Davis, Mark Duplass, Ron Livingston, Asher Miles Fallica, Lia Frankland, Elaine Tan, Gameela Wright, Joshua Pak
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
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Synopsis and Review

After the not so well received "Men, Women & Children", director Jason Reitman reunited with screenwriter Diablo Cody and actress Charlize Theron, his previous collaborators on the fantastic "Young Adult" (and in the case of Diablo Cody, his third collaboration since their acclaimed first project, "Juno"). "Tully" follows the story of Marlo, a woman in her early 40s who's about to give birth to her third (and unexpected) child. She works in HR and is quite exhausted with all the tasks and responsibilities she has to attend. As she's about to give birth, her much wealthier brother, suggests and offers to hire a night nanny to come in and help her with the newborn. While initially reticent about the whole notion, after the birth of Mia, Marlo's exhaustion worsens, and she concedes eventually calling the nanny. Tully shows up that evening, and while initially unsure about the whole situation, Marlo decides to give in. Tully proves more than apt for the job, and assists Marlo around the house, including cleaning, baking cupcakes, and even jolting her relationship with her husband. One night Tully shows up clearly distressed, and they both decide to go to Brooklyn and have a girls night out as a way to relieve the stress. As Marlo reminisces about her single years, and what her life has become, Tully informs her she is moving on. 

"Tully" is another great character study shaped by Diablo Cody's writing, Jason Reitman's staging perspective and Charlize Theron's phenomenal performance. Jason Reitman manages to efficiently showcase Marlo's daily life and convey her sense of exhaustion, with all the challenges she has at hand. We palpably feel the workload, the crushing weight of life on Marlo's shoulders, and how her dreams and even her personality, seem very much muted out as a result of all that she has to tackle. As the narrative unfolds, and Tully the nanny shows up, there's a magical sense of a weight being lifted, and with that the nuances of her personality also shine through. Even though we are eventually presented with the scenario that Tully is indeed a representation of Marlo's younger self (and Marlo's maiden name is Tully), and that she created that persona due to sheer exhaustion, the film manages to portray the burden of every day life, of how getting older and accepting some choices, also means letting go of some expectations and dreams one had at some time. And as people change, so do their dreams and journeys. It's a smart script, anchored in a towering performance from Charlize Theron, who is simultaneously funny, wired, warm, saddened, and nothing short of brilliant. She gets good support from Mackenzie Davis, but where the film lacks some dimension is in the remainder supporting characters, who are for the most part, very flat (the husband who is sweet, but is playing video games, and the rich brother, who is slightly full of himself, are just two examples). The production team is uniformly excellent, featuring a great cinematography from Eric Steelberg, score from Rob Simonsen and production design from Anastasia Masaro. Worth watching.