
Tully
(2018), (♦♦♦♦): Marlo Moreau is a very stressed mother of two
young children and a baby on the way. She is tired, she is hormonal, her
husband is useless at home—always busy with a demanding job—, and her younger
kid, Jonah, is labelled as “quirky”, though that is a severe understatement.
Marlo’s brother, Craig, is rich, and gives her an unusual present just in time
for the arrival of the new baby: a night nanny. Marlo is reluctant to hire a
stranger to do what she must do herself, but life becomes too unmanageable and she
calls the highly recommended Tully.
Tully changes Marlo and the family overnight. Suddenly the
house is clean. There are baked cupcakes in the morning. Marlo has time to cook
fancy dinners, and for a nap between each nursing. However, deep down, Marlo is
extremely exhausted and sleep deprived. Little does she know that life is going
to catch up with her sooner than expected.
With a running time of 95 minutes, Tully is a piercing look at motherhood and its challenges, written
by the award-winning screenwriter of Juno,
Diablo Cody. Helmed by Juno’s
award-nominated director, Jason Reitman, stars Charlize Theron (Marlo Moreau),
Mackenzie Davies (Tully), Ron Livingston (Drew, Marlo’s husband), and Mark
Duplass (Craig, Marlo’s brother).
Tully is
meant to be a comedy, and it has its light comedic moments, but works more
effectively as a Zen meditation on the joys and undisclosed challenges of early
motherhood, such as sleep deprivation, guilt over leaving a new child with a
stranger, finding enough time to spend with the other kids, and the problems
that arise from having a child with learning disadvantages. Crazy hormones and
lack of sex don’t help matters either. Tully
has a light, quirky touch and brims with authenticity. Charlize Theron is
incredible as Marlo, and so is Mackenzie Davies as the force of nature that is
the “night nanny” Tully.
Gemini
(2017), (♦♦♦): Heather Anderson (Zoe Kravitz) is a movie
star with the problems that usually accompany fame: stalking paparazzi,
swirling rumors, obsessed fans, and not too trusty people around. She has
recently refused to film a movie, after committing to it, and has broken up
with a roguish boyfriend. Jill LeBeau (Lola Kirke), Heather’s personal
assistant, is maybe one of the few people Heather can really call friend. Or is
she? A shocking crime brings their friendship into question as a relentless
detective (John Cho) pursues the truth, while one of them searches for answers
in the unlikeliest places.
Written, directed, and edited by Aaron Katz, Gemini is a unique, tantalizing noir mystery
with intriguing musical score— slow, jazzy saxophone notes most times,
electronic synthesizer notes underscoring the investigation—, courtesy of
Keegan DeWitt, and great photography.
The guarded performances perfectly suit the story, as the
movie is a quiet meditation on friendship, secrets, the many shades of truth,
and the dark side of fame. When the story is not focused on the characters,
whose personalities are alluring but not too revealing, the movie shifts to
occasional showcasing views of the city of Los Angeles, both in daylight and
nighttime, and the surrounding hills.
Galveston
(2018), (♦♦♦): Roy Cady (Ben Foster) works at a dry-cleaners
that is a front business for mobsters. Roy is a hitman. He has been sent by his
boss, Stan Ptitko (Beau Bridges), to roughen up a lawyer who seems to have a
mind to shake up Ptitko’s business. However, when Roy goes to teach the man a
lesson, he finds that he has been set up, is being shot at, his partner has
just been killed in front of him, and he is running for dear life. Roy is able
to escape, accompanied by a young woman (Elle Fanning) who appeared to have
been kidnapped and kept at the house. Now both have to skip town and lay low
until things cool off, or he is able to exact revenge, whatever comes first.
Galveston is a gritty drama—an actual dirt-under-fingernails drama with some rare
instances of action/thriller—about life throwing some curveballs, and hard-won
second chances that may or may not come to fruition. It is a character study on
evil, bad choices, the redeeming power of goodness, and a glimmer of hope at
the end of the tunnel. If it sounds dark is because it is. Galveston is actually darker in topic than my plotline reflects, but
the journey of these characters is one that should be explored and savored as
much for the bad as for the good. Ben Foster and especially Elle Fanning give
searing performances. Elle Fanning has given in Galveston her best performance yet in her most adult-like role to
date, one filled with daring ferocity and hidden vulnerability.
I was really impressed by Tully, especially by the didn't-see-it-coming ending. The other two sound great as well. I am putting them in my cue!
ReplyDeleteTully is one of the best four movies I have seen this year. Thanks for considering the other two. I hope you enjoy them.
DeleteThree excellent reviews. The one about Tully in particular brought back some memories of a time in my life when I sure could have used a Tully.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dorothy. I know it's hard to admit. I love my sleep, so I don't know how I would deal with that challenge.
DeleteJust a quick, Happy Thanksgiving wish to you and your family. We'll be busy tomorrow but didn't want to miss a chance to send our wished.
DeleteThanks, Diane, and good Thanksgiving wishes for you and yours as well.
DeleteYeah I still need to see Tully; sounds a bit more drama than comedy? And I'd consider the others as well. I like Ben Foster - especially in the movie Leave No Trace. So good.
ReplyDeleteTully is more drama than comedy, but all the better for it. I highly recommend it. Ben Foster was a force of nature in Galveston, as he was in Hell or High Water, and so was Elle Fanning; a truly mature performance with a dark subject matter to boot. Gemini is different, unlike most movies out there, which is what makes a good. I have Leave No Trace on my queue to watch this month, so I'll get to it pretty soon. There are still soooo many movies from this year I want to watch before year's end and I'm already running out of time. :-)
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