"Tully"

We spent this Mother's Day afternoon seeing a movie about, well, motherhood, "Tully", from director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody.  This is the same creative team who gave us the wonderful "Juno" in 2007, a movie for which Cody won an Oscar, so the bloodlines were good for this one.

Oscar winner Charlize Theron, plays Marlo, a woman quickly approaching middle age who is about to give birth to her third child.  Difficulties with her first two elementary school aged kids and the pregnancy itself is putting a lot of stain on Marlo and her husband, Drew, played by Ron Livingston, and the stress and strain only magnify when the new baby girl arrives.

Into her life comes Tully, a Night Nanny played by Mackenzie Davis, whose services are a gift from Marlo's wealthy brother.  Tully's services take a lot of the stress and strain off of Marlo's shoulders, but it may not be quite a simple as that.

Davis and Theron

There is a "big reveal" moment in this movie that will make sense of several previous head-scratching moments.  There are also a couple of "oh no" moments, so I am not going to say any more, other than to say that after seeing this today, I really want to see it again.

Theron reportedly put on fifty pounds to play the role of the stressed out Mom, and she is a marvel in the role.  It is probably too early in the year to start predicting Oscar nominees, but it's hard to imagine that she will not get strong consideration for such a nomination.

"Tully" is the seventh 2018 movie release that I have seen thus far this year, and I will say that it is the best of those movies that I have seen thus far.

Four stars from The Grandstander.

 Theron about to give birth

I was unaware of a movie that the Reitman-Cody team gave us back in 2011 called "Young Adult", but several reviewers of "Tully" have spoken highly of it.  I am going to make it a point to seek out and watch this movie.  It also stars Charlize Theron, so the bloodlines that I spoke of above  would seem to apply to that movie as well.  I'll keep you posted.