Charlize Theron and Jason Reitman triumphantly joined forces on 2011’s Young Adult and they are back with a delightfully divine and hauntingly heartfelt ode to motherhood in Tully. What makes Tully rise above other salute to mothers is actually another Reitman reunion – his reteaming with Juno screenwriter (and Oscar winner) Diablo Cody.
Theron is Marlo, and as we meet her she is nine months pregnant with two children already making her life blissfully busy, one eight and one in kindergarten. She is married to Drew (Ron Livingston) and the couple are a true team making life happen on a daily basis for their entire family. As their baby Mia arrives in their world, the stressors of a newborn – along with the demands of two other kids – takes a toll on this mama. She is stretched thin. Yet, she never complains. Help arrives when her wealthy brother Craig (Mark Duplass) offers to secure a nighttime nanny to give his sister some aid as Drew’s work is ever-increasingly demanding and the usual challenges abound for her school age children.
Enter Tully (Mackenzie Davis, Blade Runner 2049).
At first, it is a bizarre endeavor. What with the handing over the care of the newborn while Marlo gets sleep. She is awakened for nursing. Other than that, Tully’s presence allows her the rare opportunity to participate in that elusive concept for mothers of newborns… sleep. As doctors have said repeatedly, that is the one thing in the world that could not be more important to our mental and physical well-being.
What is so fascinating about Tully is that the night nanny is not the cure all by any means, and it is shown to have the most unique of effects on Marlo that run the spectrum of the human condition. The film delves deeply into the reality of motherhood on so many levels in a style that has never truly been this passionately portrayed in a cinematic narrative. It is a must-see for all who have children and frankly, for anyone who has had a mother… i.e. everyone!
There are no broad strokes or gross generalizations when it comes to how Cody crafted Marlo’s landscape and how Reitman brought it to life on the most refreshingly real of ways. To say it comes at the audience in three dimensions does not even do it justice. It is rivetingly raw. It is stunningly sincere. And above all else, Tully does not try to wrap up everything with a neatly tied bow, more like a spit-up sullied and over-milked menagerie of magnificence. The film is, at its most, a uniquely dissected window into a world that at the key to the human race’s continuing survival. It is also an awe-inspiring appreciation to those who bring us into this world and foster our emotional, mental, physical and personal growth while we climb the ladder to adulthood.
Theron is sensational. The Oscar winner lays it all out there in the most astounding of manners. Much like an athlete who looks back and proudly believes that they left it all on the field after the final whistle, the viewer comes away exhausted in the most moving and miraculous of ways from simply witnessing the actress’ awe-inspiring turn. Her performance is a revelation that is innately inspiring and will have all who witness Theron’s triumph leaving the theater with an even deeper appreciation for her towering talents, which is insane given all the beautiful brilliance that she has delivered in her career.
The support Theron gets from the ensemble is stellar. Livingston tells his truth with every frame he inhabits. He gives us a film father that is reflective of what a multitude of dads are feeling in today’s world. Drew wants to be the provider, and he is a good one. He also wants to be there for all three children and the varying means in which they require his paternal influence. Livingston captures this modern man challenge charmingly, powerfully and most astutely. His chemistry with Theron is not necessarily electric. That is what the story requires. This is a marriage that is running on autopilot. But, that it what is required of it, given the circumstances of a newborn and two small kids.
Davis delivers on so many fronts, it is hard to know where to commence the praise. Her title character comes in as a breath of fresh air and then manages to entrench herself into Marlo’s life that finds her doing so much more than assisting a weary mother getting through the night. Her presence recalls what we hear during the safety presentation pre-flight. Remember? When the oxygen masks drop down, secure one on yourself before helping your child. Tully shows us that a mother can only be a master of maternal influence if she herself is taken care of and everything that involves. Tully not only reminds our mother of three of that fact repeatedly throughout Reitman’s film, but gives her the tools to be successful in that all-important endeavor. The actress also delivers a turn that does so much more than serve the aforementioned purpose for Marlo. She is complex and endearing on many other levels as well.
Cody has penned a screenplay that is beautiful in its tenor. It is also rich with a reality that never feels forced. It is grounded in genuine authenticity that can only come from someone who is intimately aware of all myriad of nuances that is comprises the heaven sent and sometimes devilishly daunting existence that is being a mom.
Reitman returns to fine form after two mediocre to pretty good movies, 2014’s Men, Women & Children and 2013’s Labor Day. The four-time Oscar nominee has the most tender of touches with his latest that brilliantly befits the subject matter, the performances his actors deliver and most importantly, gives Cody’s flawless prose the oxygen to live and breathe as an entertaining and enlightening entity.
Sure, Tully is simultaneously a tribute and a love letter to motherhood. But honestly, this treasure of a film is actually more a true titanic testament to those who live the selfless life that is being pregnant, giving birth and then taking on the treacherous — and beyond blissful — truth that is raising a child.
Grade: A+