You have to admit, Charlize Theron is one talented badass bitch. Watching literally any movie with her as the lead is a pretty safe bet. Going into this, I literally knew nothing about it, and that is definitely the way to go into this movie. So let’s try to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, shall we?
The title Tully refers to the name of the nanny hired by Theron’s character, Marlo. (Stupid name, but you’ll get over that.) As a mother of three, Marlo finds herself stuck in a rut in which she lives in a sexless marriage, and her life is devoted almost entirely to her kids. Reluctantly, she hires a night nanny (played by Mackenzie Davis) at the suggestion of her brother, whom will come into the family home nightly and take care of any upset children throughout the night. Unexpectedly, Marlo forms a strange but nice bond with Tully, and the film delves into the friendship held by the two leading women.
I’ll admit, the synopsis above makes this movie sound kind of tedious. However, a clever script and witty performance by Charlize Theron ensures that it is anything but. Her sarcastic and witty Marlo absolutely speaks to me. She absolutely cannot be fucked with life, and that is definitely something that will resonate with a lot of women. This movie also serves as testament that even with her more subtle roles, Theron is an unstoppable powerhouse. As nuanced – albeit less wacky – than her Oscar-winning performance in Monster, this role was practically built for this actress and she does an outstanding job.
Whilst I knew this was labelled a black comedy, that can often mean that “comedy” is a loose term. However, the writing is so good in this that I was surprised how funny it actually was. Diablo Cody‘s script is realistic in its dialogue and constructed extremely well, and Theron lends her comedy talent to making some lines laugh-out-loud funny. Don’t explain ”funny ha ha” humour though; Tully is definitely more of the ”oh my god same girl, same” type. The funniest thing, however? She made the joke about having a cane at the end of the movie and then SHE HAD A CANE AT THE END OF THE MOVIE. Honestly, so clever. Maybe you had to be there…
Though the director (Jason Reitman) may be male, this has female writer all over it. I’m not sure how much male audiences will relate to any of this when it comes down to it, but as a woman, everything that happens in this is close to the bone. (Even if you don’t have kids, so don’t worry about that.)
Now, I have to get down to the root of this movie’s success: that ending. Tully is in The Sixth Sense level of plot twist; you will not see it coming. I always see it coming, yet this somehow slipped through the cracks. Though some of the film can be slowly paced at times, the story is so amazingly well conceived that I was glued to the screen for the majority.
Overall, this film contains some brilliant performances and a masterclass in script writing. Though there’s nothing groundbreaking here in terms of film-making, it’s a really good effort and deserving of more than the 3.6 average it has on Letterboxd.com.
Tully is available to stream on Netflix in the UK.
TQR Category Ratings:
Performance: 
Cinematography:
Soundtrack:
Costume & Set Design:
Plot:
Overall Enjoyability Rating:
The Quayside Review 
1 Comment