Night Nanny At Your Service

By Tom Pacak

Charlize Theron is one of our best actresses. Whether it’s a damaged serial killer in “Monster” or a badass warrior in “Mad Max: Fury Road”, Charlize is always daring to try something new in her craft.  In “Tully”, she plays Marlo, a pregnant mother who struggles to take care of her troubled child Jonah (Asher Miler Fallica) and has trouble adjusting to family life. The first scene in the film shows Marlo brushing Jonah with a sponge. She is shown brushing her son with deep care and love. Marlo’s son Jonah has severe anger issues and the film suggests that he may have some form of Asperger Syndrome. He lashes out at his mother and has strong reactions to loud noises. Not only can Marlo not handle him, the school even suggests transferring the child to a different school.

Marlo never gets a full night sleep and doesn’t really have help inside her family. Her weight (Charlize packed 50 pounds for the role) and facial expressions suggests this is a battle that all moms go through at some point in life. Her working husband Drew (Ron Livingston) is ignorant of her distress and is ineffective in trying to help out the kids. He spends most of the nights playing video games and not waking up for the newborn when it needs aid.

Knowing her struggle, Marlo’s wealthy brother Craig (Mark Duplass) recommends getting his sister a night nanny. The night system obliviously worked for Craig and his wife.  Marlo had no idea her brother even had a night nanny.  Later, Craig tells her, “It’s because she’s a night nanny.” There is a montage in this film that is almost difficult to watch. Not because it is disturbing in nature its due to the sad reality that Marlo lives in. In this montage, Marlo continuously wakes up and feeds her newborn and takes care of it throughout the day. Drew never wakes up to take care of the child or spend a day with it. Marlo having enough of being the sole caretaker decides to hire the nanny.  

The nanny who shows up is Tully (Mackenzie Davis). Tully is a young, supercool free spirit of who Marlo wishes she could be. Tully tells Marlo, “I’m here to take care of the children and you.” She even cleans the house after her sessions. This energy immediately rubs off on Marlo and her child. This bond quickly changes Marlo’s lifestyle. Marlo becomes more risky and fun loving. Her and Tully even share a strange scene with Drew that is too good to spoil.

“Tully” is the third collaboration between director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody. The three films all center around a woman. In “Juno”, the young main protagonist was very likable and in “Young Adult” we at least knew that the main protagonist was unlikable. In “Tully”, we know the struggle that Marlo goes through is very relatable. We like Marlo at the beginning of the film and at the end. The one thing is we don’t know enough about is Tully. It is implied that she has her battles she goes through with her roommates and lovers. We never get to see inside of her struggles. With a plot twist that the film bombards you with at the end, we see why we don’t know Tully that well.

With Jason Reitman’s films, “Thank You For Smoking”, “Juno”, and “Up In The Air” I was able to emphasize with his characters and the challenges they face.  They felt real and humanistic. With the twist in “Tully”, Marlo’s struggle slowly becomes cartoonish. I liked the characters and movie up until the twist. The twist has been done before in other films and felt forced.

Note: Playing in theaters May 4^th

Rating: 2.5 out of 4 stars