Summary
4 tech score
“Tully” (Focus Features)
For some insane reason I walked into “Tully” expecting it to be an adult comedy. I had the impression it dealt with a woman dealing with life after the birth of her third child, and having some comedic moments. Charlize Theron has always been a favorite actress of mine and I like the writing style of Diablo Cody (“Juno”). I also like the directorial habits of Jason Reitman (“Young Adult”). But all of this foreknowledge, or what I thought was foreknowledge, did not prepare me for the drama and confusion contained in this film.
The focus of the movie is on Marlo (Theron), a late thirties, early forties wife and mother. She and her husband Drew (Ron Livingston) have two children and are expecting their third any day now. Their son Jonah (Asher Miles Fallica) has some problems and is easily distracted and upset. The school he attends is trying to work with Marlo concerning his problems but it is a constant worry to her.
Her brother Craig (Mark Duplass) is worried about Marlo. He tells her he wants to provide her with a night nurse after the baby arrives. She is not in sync with him on this and argues she can take care of her own baby. However after the baby arrives she has some second thoughts. So one night there is a knock at the door and a young woman has arrived. Her name is Tully (Mackenzie Davis) and she is there to save Marlo’s sanity.
The main story of the movie moves on from this point and leads to a surprising and not completely satisfactory ending. While I was watching it I was angered but after I left it provided food for thought for hours. I finally reached the conclusion that though it wasn’t what I had expected it wasn’t as totally horrible as I had first concluded.
Theron is very good as Marlo. She throws herself into the role and makes you believe the pressure and depression falling down around Marlo’s shoulders. Ron Livingston is in top barely likable mode. Drew is the guy who shows up but then does nothing constructive. Livingston has him nailed. The hardest performance to judge is Davis’. Her character is such an enigma it is hard to tell if she is a good actress or not.
The film is rated R for profanity and nudity.
“Tully” is a movie with quite a few tricks up its sleeve. Some of them are good and some of them are not. It is a movie that will make you work to sort it all out and in the end you will still have questions. It is better in retrospect than it is in the initial viewing. And it is not a comedy.
I scored “Tully” a maternal 4 out of 10.
Jackie K Cooper
www.jackiekcooper.com
I feel like maybe you didn’t understand the movie Jackie? This was a beautiful tribute to motherhood. As a mom of three myself, I found it resonated deeply. And while some may not see it, I thought Drew was wonderful. This is a movie about humanity- Not seeking perfection, or mocking the reality of parenting. This is poetry in motion for any mother or father that has thought, “maybe I’m alone in this”.
It wasn’t the concept of the movie I didn’t like, it was the presentation that left a lot of unanswered questions. Listen anything that shows how real parenting is gets my approval. My wife and I were blessed with two children and she has my total respect and love for how she handled it all.
I AM VERY ANGRY WITH YOUR GARFIELD 2 REVIEW! The movie was amazing and deserves better than a 5/10. The new characters were great and Garfield was very funny in the movie! All the jokes were funny and the effects were breathtaking. If you did not smile during this movie you do not have a soul.
unfortunately this was not a tribute to motherhood. this was a tribute to some confused lesbian chick who still has feelings for her obviously very neclectful girlfriend, yet back when she was young she was the one hooking up with guys and wanting to ditch her. its as if women get tired of themselves yet love the motherly compassionate taking care of that they bring. its confusing enough not knowing theyre the same person, until the end, then out of the nothing lets the nanny fuck her husband, which also is not very representative of mothers. this was the special case of some bitch wanting to go back or even worse, LEAVE her family cuz theyre so stressful, which one is it, I DONT KNOW, like you said many questions are not answered, but it’s simply insulting to other women to say this movie is representative of them, when we all know only less than one percent of the population is gay. it’s more representative of a percentage of confused women who ended up doing something they didn’t want to with they’re life, but that’s the only demographic i see this movie satisfying, so yeah, good for them, but no one really feels sympathy for that demographic or that they SHOULD be represented in movies as the victim good guy. no thanks. bad movie, that not even KRISTEL understood well. good article. peace.