In the bonus segment of the DVD of "Tully," the director described the film's theme as turning the page of life and saying "good-bye to your youth." But this conceit was taken to the extreme in the main context of parenting, as depicted in the film. The clear implication was that for the protagonist named Marlo Moreau, having babies and raising a family is synonymous with giving up one's ideals, goals, and dreams.
This strange concept was borne out in the film with so much time spent in the mundane details of parenthood, including long scenes dealing with breast-pumping and breastfeeding, sleepless nights, fighting traffic with a screaming kid in the car, dealing with the school principal, and other issues that every parent has to face.
After discussing the grim realities of child rearing, the film artists in the special features section of the DVD praised one another for how brilliant they were as actors, screenwriter, and director. But the proof of the brilliance is in the final product, and "Tully" turned out to be a dud.
The main problem was in the title character of Tully herself, a "night nanny" who is brought in as a relief pitcher to assist the beleaguered mother Marlo, who has just delivered her third child. After child #2, Marlo had major coping problems, and it turned out that the kid Jonah was "quirky," leading to his dismissal from school and a lot of denial on the part of the parents.
Marlo seems to lack patience with everyone and is "tired" all the time. The visual image that recurs in the film is of Marlo drowning. To get Marlo some much needed rest, she and her husband decide to bring on the night nanny. A crucial reference early in the film is to Brooklyn where Marlo grew up in the Bushwick neighborhood. Eventually, she will pay a visit to her old stomping grounds, get drunk on "neat" bourbons, steal a bicycle, take a walk down memory lane, and make the stupid decision of trying to drive home, thereby committing a DUI that is never mentioned in the film.
The puzzling figure in the film is Tully. As a paid helper, Tully provides far greater "services" to both parents than merely looking after their kid. Eventually, the filmmakers play a trick on the audience with the character Tully.
SPOILER ALERT: It turns out that Marlo's maiden name was Tully, and the Tully character is a mirror image (or fantasy) of Marlo's lost youth. But was there really a night nanny in the home? Did Tully appear only in Marlo's imagination? Or was there an actual nanny that became distorted in Marlo's mind as her youthful döppelganger? This narrative made no sense because the husband knew about the night nanny and acknowledged her presence. Clearly, the filmmakers were shamelessly manipulating the viewers without ever providing closure on the plot trick.
Early in the film, there was an offhand reference by Marlo that her life seemed like a Lifetime movie. But it turned out that was precisely what this film was all about as a big-budget Lifetime-style film, leading the audience astray to be bushwacked in Bushwick.
