Yay! “Tully” is out! I’ve had my eye on this little picture ever since I first saw the obtusely vague trailer last year, and, after what feels like decades of anticipation, I’m glad to say that it was all well worth it. “Tully” is a delightful little comedy about motherhood that takes a slightly darker, more honest approach than most. But don’t let the darkness of a few aspects let you think this is a sad, dreary film. The atmosphere of “Tully” defies our preconceived gradients, as this is one of those very real films with all the tonal inconsistencies of our ordinary lives.
From writer Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman (the creative team behind Juno), “Tully” tells the story of Marlo (Charlize Theron), whose wealthy brother Craig (Mark Duplass) hires a night-nanny to aid with the care of her most recent child. But when the titular Tully (Mackenzie Davis) arrives, Marlo finds life with a night-nanny a lot different than she had previously expected. This is really all that happens in “Tully.”
From a stylistic standpoint, “Tully” resembles a thriller more than any other genre, as there is a cold, mysterious quality lingering behind everyone in Marlo’s life. Craig’s gift of the nanny is perceived by Marlo as a cruel plot at first, and the detachment Marlo feels to the world around her is reflected in the cinematography. The style of the story is primarily realism with a few absurdist bits thrown in here and there. But don’t worry if you think that realism can’t be funny; Cody has plenty of jokes to tell in this world, and Reitman finds the perfect ways to film them. The humor in “Tully” is largely drawn from Marlo’s frustration with the world around her and her bewilderment with Tully. These are both deep wells of comedic premise, from which “Tully” pulls as much as it needs to while also stopping now and then for a serious moment.
Now, for all that it gets right, “Tully” does have its flaws. There is a vague, overarching inconsistency underneath it all, as a few scenes that may have been meant to be mysterious just read as wrong for this story. While everything comes together in the end, this only partially makes up for my minor discontent I felt while watching the film. Most of the scenes don’t suffer from this problem, but there  are enough such that, at points, I felt like Cody and Reitman were making a different film from the one I was watching. Looking back on it, I can say that it all works out well, but the film didn’t do a good job of reassuring me that it would.
“Tully” is one of those films that leaves me at a loss for words, though not because it was incredible, nor because it was a wreck. I feel mostly pleased, with a hint of confusion. This film is definitely worth seeing, for while you will see many other films that feel close to “Tully” in certain respects, none put all the elements together quite the same way as this one. It might be odd, but I am glad it finally came out.
Rating: 8.5/10