Tully [DVD] [2018]

This was very different from what I was expecting but as a parent I got it and found it funny, it's not exactly a comedy though.I Went in not having watched a trailer for it, I just read the synopsis and thought it was going to be a comedy but it's more of an indie drama which has its funny moments, plus it's not at all what you think it is, I liked it though. There is nothing glossed over here, it shows some pretty graphic moments and really gets to the heart of being a parent and it's tough.I'm not usually a fan of Charlize Theron, though I thought she was fantastic in Monster, but here once again she shows her talent.

‘Tully’ is not the best or most eventful film ever, but is good in a quiet kind of way, it gets better as it goes along and it was made by some talented people. It includes a sparkling performance by actress Mackenzie Davis.This film is mostly about a mother, played by Charlize Theron, on the verge of middle age. After giving birth to her third child, she feels tired, trapped by her responsibilities and with no zest for her life or marriage. Her mood is lifted when she is persuaded to employ a younger woman as a kind of live-in night nanny, just for a few weeks while the baby is still small.Some of the pressure of motherhood is taken off her just for a while. Getting to know the younger woman, who is more enthusiastic but perhaps also more naïve, gives her a fresh perspective on things.By the end of the film the mother recovers some of the spark she probably once had, but also has to accept that life will never again seem as full of possibilities as it did when she was younger.The night nanny is called ‘Tully’. That also turns out to have been the mother’s maiden name.While most of the film is down to Earth there is a fairy-tale-like moment near the end that suggests that something miraculous about Tully the night nanny. She could be something like a spirit of the mother’s younger self.In the scene in which they meet for the last time, one of them is in hospital after a car accident and the other says they will not see each other again. It is filmed to look normal. However, no one else is present, so while Tully could be there as a flesh and blood person, she could be a spirit or could be there only in the mother’s imagination. The Script Writer /Producer Diablo Cody probably intended this to be left unresolved.This is not the greatest film that Diablo Cody, or the star /co-Producer Charlize Theron or Director Jason Reitman have ever made (for Charlize Theron that is ‘Monster’; for Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody ‘Juno)’. Nor, to me, is this quite as good as another film on which all three of them worked called ‘Young Adult’.‘Tully’ may mean more to viewers with personal experience of motherhood. However, even for those of us who have not, this film is not bad and it has something to say about the facts of getting older that we all have to face.Mackenzie Davis as Tully the night nanny only makes her entrance some way into the film and leaves the story before the last few scenes, so is on the screen a good deal less than Charlize Theron.Mackenzie Davis brings more life than Charlize T to the scenes she is in, but that is absolutely not a criticism of Ms Theron as her job in this film is to portray someone who is feeling down and overwhelmed, so that is what she does. Mackenzie Davis is there to play a contrasting character who radiates life.This may be an example of how Ms Theron is often willing to play characters that may not make her popular with viewers if there is a dramatic purpose in doing so.Although the genres are quite different, Mackenzie Davis as ‘Tully’ reminds me both in appearance and in character of the actress Jewel Staite some years ago playing ‘Kayleigh’ in the TV series ‘Firefly’ and its film continuation ‘Serenity’. I hope Ms Davis finds other good roles in future.

I related to this movie in so many levels, firstly being a parent of an Autistic son and his many quirks, the husband playing video games, the lack of sleep and the depression it brings and how becoming a wife and mother leaves you grieving for your former carefree self. It’s a clever movie with a good twist and everything clicks into place at the end. If your a parent give it a go, if not it could put you off for life:)

It shows real lifestyle

Ein sehr interessanter Film. Hin und wieder war man sich nicht ganz sicher, um was es jetzt wirklich geht. Geht es um die reine Überarbeitung bzw. Überforderung der Mutter oder ist da doch ein tieferer Sinn im Hintergrund, der natürlich mit der Nanny zu tun hat.Nun ja, es muss sich jeder selbst ein Bild davon machen, was man gut bzw. nicht-gut findet. ich habe den Film ganz interessant gefunden, weil er dann doch einmal anders war als andere Filme ...Sehenswert ist er auf jeden Fall ...