TULLY DVD (2018)




SYNOPSIS: Tully tells the story of Marlo (Academy Award winner Charlize Theron, 2003, Best Actress, Monster), a mother of three who is gifted a night nanny by her brother (Mark Duplass). Hesitant to the extravagance at first, she forms a unique bond with the thoughtful, unpredictable, young nanny, Tully (Mackenzie Davis).

MOVIE REVIEW:

Being a mother means that first and foremost, you need to give up on your free time and likely sacrifice whatever it takes to raise your kid or kids. Tully is a movie made for mothers, hopefully appreciate and love by mothers. 

Charlize Theron plays Marlo, an exhausted mother to son Jonah who has borderline autism, an older daughter and is currently heavily pregnant with her third child. While initially rejecting her wealthy brother’s offer to engage a night nanny, Marlo has no choice but to contact Tully (Mackenzie Davis) for help when she nearly suffered a nervous breakdown. Tully proves to be a great help to Marlo and their friendship blossomed over the days until one night, Tully suddenly tells Marlo that she is no longer able to work for her. 

There’s not much of a story or happening in this movie scripted by Diablo Cody who is likely inspired by her own life as a mother to three. It’s a movie that purely explores life as an overworked mother. What holds Tully together is the superb performance of Theron who has no qualms putting on forty pounds to portray a character who is suffering a mid-life crisis. 

Although touted as a comedy, there’s nothing funny about postpartum and mental health issues which are briefly touched on but never goes to full length to explore into. Cody’s writings are never predictable and Tully ends with a twist that will have you either calling it witty or pretentious.  

Still, the third collaboration between Cody and director Jason Reitman is a sad reflection of reality. It marks the maturity of both filmmakers and while never surpassing Juno, it’s definitely a better effort than the misguided Young Adults. Again, Tully is not a movie made for the masses, it’s a thankless tribute to all mothers.   

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Relationships of Tully touches on the writing and performances in this 10 minutes feature. 

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The visual of the DVD is generally fine without any significant flaws and the 5.1 audio track is serviceable in terms of dialogue although it can get slightly louder for example a scene that took place in a bar and a few bizarre dream sequences. 

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee



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 ABOUT THE MOVIE

Genre: Drama
Starring: Charlize Theron, Mackenzie Davis, Ron Livingston, Mark Duplass
Director: Jason Reitman
Rating: M18 (Some Sexual Scenes and Nudity)
Year Made: 2018
Website: http://focusfeatures.com/tully

 SPECIAL FEATURES

- The Relationships of Tully

 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Languages: English/French/Espanol
Subtitles: English/French/Espanol
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Running Time: 1 hr 36 mins
Region Code: 1