Scriptwriter Diablo Cody and director Jason
Reitman successfully team up for the third of their trilogy of witty, dark and
perceptive movies about women. (Reviewed by Patrick Compton 8/10)
Every woman who’s had a child will surely
empathise with the familiar situation that Marlo (brilliantly played by
Charlize Theron) finds herself in.
Hugely pregnant with her third, Marlo is
mother to two demanding young children – particularly her “quirky” son – and
wife to an amiable, useless husband (goofily played by Ron Livingston) who
works hard during the day but then “goes upstairs, puts on a headset, kills
zombies, and passes out”.
There’s an early montage that spells out
the mess that Marlo’s in with sardonic humour as we see exploding diapers,
fractured nights, screaming children, growing exhaustion and a husband who
sleeps through it all.
But help is at hand. Marlo’s rich brother
Craig (Mark Duplass) offers to underwrite the expense of a night nurse, an
angel of mercy who will come into the house every evening, look after the baby
and put everything to rights. Marlo initially demurs, with pride at stake, but
then, after one grisly domestic crisis too many, finally relents.
Peace breaks out. Marlo is restored, the
children appeased and even the non-existent sex life of the couple is given a
jolt. Most importantly, however, Marlo and the nurse, Tully (Mackenzie Davis),
develop an important, sanity-saving relationship.
Reitman and Diablo Cody go well together,
along with Theron. The director and screenwriter began their creative liaison
with Juno (2007). Ellen Page was the
impressive star of that film, while Cody won the Oscar for her dazzling script.
Latterly Page has been replaced, to great effect, by Theron in the later movies
beginning with Young Adult (2011).
Once again, South Africa’s finest has taken
her artistic responsibilities seriously, much like she did in her Oscar-winning
film Monster. The actress put on
about 20kg to play the pregnant mom, and she does a magnificent job of it,
showing us that having a baby isn’t for sissies – particularly if your husband
is a less than helpful partner.
The film’s high spots are almost entirely
focused on the relationship between mother and night nurse and there’s
tremendous chemistry between Theron and Davis. The pair eventually crown their
relationship with a night on the town, allowing Reitman and Cody to spring a
twist that may disappoint some filmgoers who had happily followed in the
movie’s wake up to that point.
Never mind if that proves to be the case.
The film’s considerable strengths – Theron’s superb central performance,
Davis's effervescent support and Cody’s witty, sometimes dark script – should
prove more than enough to make your visit worthwhile.
Tully opened at Gateway, Umhlanga Ridge, on May 11. - Patrick Compton
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