Tully

Modern Hollywood films about motherhood and pregnancies are an interesting but formulaic group. At times, it can take a look at an expecting mother with the changes they go through in terms of how their relationships are affected or their struggles to support their newborns. Most common of these examples (such as Juno, Knocked Up) tend to make it things seem Hollywood versions of it where it can feel predictable and stereotypical but some of the dialog can certainly help. Thing brings us to director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody's latest project that returns to that area in a different angle, Tully. This drama seems to be borrowing some of the elements from previous projects they worked on together, Juno and Young Adult (I haven't seen the latter), in terms of writing and one key actress Charlize Theron. The marketing were a bit misleading on what the premise was about but featured enough to pique my interest and it went on to gain positive critical reception. I entered the auditorium ready to see what it can bring to its topic (after having watched two bad movies that same day) and left it impressed by most of it yet perplexed by one key aspect.

Plot: The story follows a mother of three who forms a friendship with her nanny. The best thing shown throughout is the exhaustion of parenthood from taking care of her children (particularly the son with a disability), taking care of her newborn, and the fluctuating physical/mental state of the protagonist. The dialog is brutally honest between many of the characters and is fascinating to listen to, though it should be noted that it's similar to Juno in how there are some shoehorned in references older audience members can pick up on that can feel awkward at moments. Because the parent doing most of the house work and taking care is the children is the mother, there are some elements of horror from that perspective that can be hard to watch such as handling her aforementioned son as well as a part where her fresh bag of breast milk spills out, which is scary since that's worth its weight in gold.

However, there are aspects to where it holds itself back from being great. One of them concerns the likable working father who doesn't seem to be aware of how his wife is doing and is content to playing some video games after coming home from work. Again he's not a bad guy but if there had been one more scene or two focusing on him a bit to show him appear slightly aware, then it would have been improved later on in the third act. Speaking of which, there's a twist in the final act where it puts the events of what's going on into confusion (talking about it would spoil the film, but the clues are saved more in that part rather than earlier to hint at it). There's also a message during a conversation that feels a little forced without an extra scene leading towards it.

Characters: The people to focus on are Marlo (Charlize Theron) and Tully (Mackenzie Davis). Marlo is an exhausted mother of 3 struggling with added work from her recent newborn, in addition to her son. Charlize's performance is one of the best reasons to watch this from her dedication to putting on the weight for the role and her displayed state of dwindling patience from the added problems in her family. Tully is a nanny Marlo hires to take care of her newborn who bond together in each passing night. Mackenzie knocks it out of the park with her acting chops as she uses her charismatic charm from being cheery hopeful and appropriately awkward, making the chemistry with Charlize more endearing. Honorable mention goes to Jonah (Asher Miles Fallica) for his surprising portrayal as the disabled son.

Overall Consensus: Tully is an endearing dramedy about motherhood that's strengthened through strong lead performances, brutally honest dialog, realistic portrayal of parenting, and an appropriate thought provoking nature. ⭑⭑⭑⭑🎟 Runtime: 1 hour 35 minutes R

Reasons to watch it: You like any of the aforementioned actors. You enjoy respectable and realistic displays of exhausting parenthood. You are interested in brutal honest dialog.

Reasons to avoid it: You dislike any of the aforementioned actors. You hate movies about parenthood. You aren't interested in brutal honest dialog.

Coming up next: May jumped back to counter the bad entries with the fascinating Tully being driven by strong leading actresses. With the 3 review combination from last weekend finished, it's time to return to a galaxy far far away with another Disney owned property. This spin-off is coming off after a highly polarized film from a beloved franchise and has had production problems. Will it be worth the watch or will it not do enough to warrant giving it a chance? Tune in next time as Screening Spectacles will be watching and reviewing Solo: A Star Wars Story!!!