After catching the superb The Fundamentals of Caring another "Netflix exclusive" recommendation came up over the credits. With having enjoyed seeing Ellen Page in the slick Thriller The East,I decided that it was time to meet Tallulah.
The plot:
Deciding after running their smashed up van on stolen credit cards that it is time he goes back to meet his mum,Nico gets in a heated argument with his girlfriend Tallulah.Waking up the next morning to find Nico gone, Tallulah decides to travel down to New York. Reaching New York before Nico, Tallulah tracks down his mum Margo,who tells Tallulah that she has not seen her son in two years,and for her to get lost. Scavenging for food at a hotel, Tallulah is seen by hotel guest Carolyn. Believing her to be a staff member, Carolyn asks Tallulah if she can look after her baby whilst she goes on a date. Accepting the offer, Tallulah is taken aback,when Carolyn returns home drunk. Disguised at what she sees, Tallulah kidnaps the baby.
View on the film:
Spending almost the whole movie dragging a baby along,Ellen Page gives an incredible performance as Tallulah. Never shying away from the rough edges of Tallulah,Page shows a touching playfulness and dedication towards the baby,which Page smartly keeps away from undermining the casual Punk attitude Tallulah expresses over the crimes she commits. Cooling down when meeting Tallulah for the second time (this time with a baby) Allison Janney gives a sparkling performance as Margo. Reuniting with Page for the third time, Janney gives Margo a nervousness of being comfortable in her own skin,which Janney breaks with the natural chemistry shared with Page and an empathetic openness.
Inspired by her own babysitting experiences,writer/director Sian Heder makes her film directing debut by taking on the "never work with children" challenge and passing with flying colours. Hunched in Tallulah and Nico's hippy van, Heder & cinematographer Paula Huidobro give the baby run an earthy atmosphere,where washed out colours get under the brittle nails that Tallulah is living her life under. Moving Tallulah and the baby from rough streets to high class apartments, Heder tightly holds the close-ups to engulf the viewer in the pressure on Tallulah,which is freed by a startling flight of fantasy bookend.
Softening Margo when Tallulah returns with a baby,the screenplay by Sian Heder spins a hip,whip-smart "Women's Picture" touchingly painting the friendship between the women from abrasive over Tallulah keeping her most personal things hidden from Margo,to the explosively rabble rousing,as Tallulah helps Margo to discover that she can proudly hold her head high.Giving the kidnapping a sly comedic underline, Heder wisely never makes excuses for Tallulah's actions,with Heder avoiding any moral justification,to present Tallulah at her most rough-edged Punk best,as Tallulah grabs the baby and is gone baby gone.
