Review:
"Tully"
![]() Release Date: May 4, 2018
Rating: R Running Time: 96 minutes “Mother needs something to calm her now,” the Rolling Stones warned on their 1966 anthem, “Mother’s Little Helper.” In the 1960s, that meant popping a prescription pill such as valium or meprobamate. Today, parents can relieve their suffering by hiring a night nanny for their newborn. In Tully, Charlize Theron’s harried working mother of three seeks out professional assistance for her baby. Marlo expects her nanny to be an older woman with a business-like approach to caring for her days-old daughter; what Marlo gets is her own personal angel in Tully (Mackenzie Davis). Tully does everything Marlo no longer has the energy to do: feed, diaper, and console the baby during the night, clean the house, and make lunch for the older children. Tully also serves as Marlo’s de facto therapist and sex surrogate, although there is a sound reason behind Tully’s intimate encounter with Marlo’s workaholic husband Drew (Ron Livingston), that cannot be explained at this time. It would ruin the clever device director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody employ to make Tully such an effective examination of postpartum depression, and it is one that Reitman manages to conceal until its devastating reveal. More important, it is does not negate the events that come before it as Tully delves deep into the mind of a woman who is beyond her breaking point. Reitnam brings a light but assured touch to one woman’s emotional and psychological journey that many parents—especially mothers—can relate to with ease. Cody finds the humor in Marlo’s predicament without exploiting or minimizing what she goes through. Tully represents the third collaboration between Reitman and Cody after their breakthrough dramedy Juno and the character study Young Adult, the latter of which starred Theron. If Young Adult focused with a single woman dangerously consumed with her past, Tully finds a woman trapped in a present that offers very little hope for her own immediate future. Theron offers an unvarnished performance initially powered by fumes as the exhausted Marlo; her rebirth in the wake of Tully’s arrival is accompanied by an infectious energy that leaves Theron—and us, by extension—temporarily glowing. What burns bright must quickly burn out, but by the end of Tully, Theron leaves us with hope that a woman who endures pure hell is left with a shot at the happiness that has alluded her for years. As the night nurse who is the answer to Marlo’s prayers, Davis’ Zen presence instantly brings a sense of calmness to Tully and evokes unconditional trust and warm comfort from those who witness her work her magic. Davis is a ray of sunshine we all need to bask in when the lack of “Me Time” threatens to darken our souls. Robert Sims Aired: May 3, 2018 Web site: http://focusfeatures.com/tully |
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