Tully is one of the new films released this weekend as a sacrificial lamb to the beast that is Marvel’s Infinity War. A third film that had low expectations so it gets released a week after what has turned out to be the highest opening weekend haul of all time. Which is unfortunate since Tully is a really good film that had no hope of making a lot of money but certainly could have done better under other circumstances.
Tully is a kind of third film in an official trilogy of films written by Diablo Cody and directed by Jason Reitman. Their first movie was Juno, then Young Adult, and now this film. Each movie is about a young woman at a certain time in her life… or in the life of Diablo Cody. In this case, it stars Charlize Theron as a 40 something mother of two who has just had a surprise third baby. It’s about the sometimes unglamorous job of having a baby and how she reluctantly takes on a night nurse (named Tully) who watches the baby at night so she can get some much needed rest.
As an acting challenge for Charlize Theron, there’s no better movie. Theron is fantastic as a woman on the verge.. barely holding it together as she manages three kids and a husband who is a provider, spends homework time with the kids, and then retires to the bedroom to play Xbox. Her performance here is ego-less… no makeup, overweight, excess skin, etc. I’ve never been a 40 something mother of three with a certain amount of postpartum depression, but I bet Theron, Diablo Cody, and Jason Reitman have nailed something that doesn’t appear in movies very often.
The film’s tone shares a lot in common with the more dramady stylings of Young Adult than it does with the broader and quirkier Juno. This is not a problem as the film is dryly, almost morbidly low-key funny as well as studied and dramatic. It’s not a tone that everyone would enjoy but if you’ve seen Young Adult, you’ll have an idea of the feel of this flick. It’s not a laugh riot, but will bring out mild amusement in between somber, thoughtful, real moments.
The only problem with the film is that it has an unnecessary yet predictable final act. I could have done without where the movie goes because it doesn’t need to go there. I won’t go into what happens but I will admit that if you don’t see it coming, it’ll be quite a surprise and rewatching the movie will become a wholly different experience. It just didn’t work on me.
So…. there you go. I’d recommend this film to people who like a slightly challenging different take on a comedy/drama… or to mothers who want to see a version of real life on screen. Not many movies like this out there and it deserves some love. As a bit of counter-programming to the juggernaut that is the latest Marvel pic, it needs all the help it can get.
Score: 86