Tully: Jason Reitman’s and Diablo Cody’s Most Ambitious work

  Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody tend to be very recognizable as an incredibly talented duo ever since their work on Juno. With Cody’s unique use of dialogue and Reitman’s good sense of realism in his directing, they’ve helped created some very relatable but also funny films in a sense. The same goes true with their newest film Tully; however unlike most of their previous work whether it is separate or together, Tully ends up becoming a much more fascinating piece of work created by this team. It may seem on its surface as a down to earth dramedy about motherhood, and while it is most definitely that, it is also a film that is also surprisingly more ambitious and takes more of an artistic approach with its narrative, in a way that easily makes possibly their best work, being an incredibly layered film about the struggles of being a mother.

 The film’s main focus is on a woman named Marlo, played by Charlize Theron, a struggling mother of three children who is stressing about raising her newborn daughter. However, things take a turn for the better when a woman named Tully is hired to help her raise her daughter and thus, goes through this journey of motherhood with her. As with most of Reitman’s films, Tully does have a sense of realism to it, where the characters and situations feel real as it doesn’t sugar coat the whole idea of raising children. Like with Reitman’s other films where the situations feel exactly like real life, Tully showcases how struggling being a mother can truly be and how stressful it can be on a person. Considering the script was written by Diablo Cody, who is a mother herself, it is expected that there is a sense of how it makes the situation of raising a child as real as possible, without making it a complete walk in the park. What stands Tully out from the other films from this director is that, the film surprisingly has a lot of interruptive and deep themes to it, more than just the typical, “Motherhood is hard” type scenario the trailers come across. The film has layers to it, as it is a movie that has a ton of moments to interrupt and discuss upon, in terms of what Tully means to the main character and what the situation is to the main character, making this film surprisingly more artistic in terms of script. Granted, it isn’t the deepest as the film’s interpretations of what the actual film is trying to convey is fairly easy to figure out, however it is still given a lot of time and thought and is even made better upon second viewing where you can notice the subtle details of what the film is trying to convey. Not to mention that the film has many underlying themes outside of just the motherhood theme. Themes along the lines of letting go of the past and embracing the future, bonding with a child and also even a subtly told message about how a father figure should be just as important to raising a child as a mother is. All of this is told in a subtle manner through diablo Cody’s clever script that doesn’t spell things out but also doesn’t go too complex either. It’s enough to grasp but also enough to truly appreciate on a screenwriting level.

     As with most of Reitman’s films, he is a director that really excels with working with actors and in the case of Tully, it is no exception. The film has some of the most believable and alive performances seen all year so far. Charlize Theron is truly dedicated in the role, with not only changing up her appearance for the role, but also truly conveying the feeling of being a struggling mom big time. Seeing her struggle with a third new baby and a troublesome child, makes you feel very sympathetic for her as she truly looks and act like she has been going through some rough patches. The secondary lead, which is coincidently the title character Tully, is also a very fascinating character. She’s one who’s a quirky and fun character to see even if she feels like an archetype of a character made by Diablo Cody, however as the film progresses, the mystery behind her character has a lot more merit to her. The intrigue of her character becomes a lot more meaningful to the film after a first viewing and even more so after a second one as she is more a part of Theron’s character than one would expect. The rest of the cast from the child actors to the performances from the other adults such as Theron’s husband and family friends also do a fine job supporting the film’s rather small cast and are also beneficial to Charlize’s character. The husband in particular has a subtle character arch and although not fully fleshed out, it also helps emphasizes the film’s message about parenting and does it in an incredibly intelligent way that makes it heartwarming to see when it ends up the way it does.

    Tully is easily one of the most fascinating films to have come out from the team of Reitman and Cody. It has all the charming realism and dialogue we’re used to seeing from this team, making it a good film for fans of this duo, however it’s the film’s more ambitious themes and structure that makes the film a lot more impactful. It’s a thoughtful film that is worth seeing, especially for those who are struggling or even plan on becoming parents as it’s a film with a message that sticks with you for a good while. It’s an artistic piece of work that was never expected from Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman but that’s why it might be one of their best works easily.