Ranking Tully's Figures of Speech

Seven years after fucking up Charlize Theron’s silk, Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody teamed up again to fuck up just about every other fabric in her house in this year’s Tully. Here Theron plays Marlo, a soon-to-be mommy of three struggling to find any room for excitement or naps in her caffeine-deprived days. Enter Tully (Mackenzie Davis), the night nanny she hires to add some hours of sleep to her frustrations.

From the opening scene, Cody assures the audience she has no intention of grounding these characters in the reality that corresponds to them. Her script keeps this up throughout by frequently using figures of speech and occasional underwater reveries to buoy up the characters in their imagination. She reinforces the fantasies her script's players construct and dress themselves up in (from Tahitian home bars to cat ears headbands) with an equally rhetorical language. We've ranked enough of our favorite metaphors and similes from Tully that we can already hear the wheels of your high school English teacher’s TV cart rolling up to your classroom.

Ten of our favorite lines and very wet spoilers after the cut...

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Review: "Tully"

by Chris Feil

With Juno, screenwritwer Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman made a quippy comedy on teen pregnancy with more subtlety than first meets the eye. Pairing again for Young Adult, they approached the bitter delusion of its alcoholic protagonist with patient and understated compassion. Now arrives their third collaboration Tully, an equally gracious and hilarious look at personal growth and self-awareness, this time with motherhood at the forefront.

It’s a special thing when we get even one great comedy with such a deep well of empathy for its subject, but Cody and Reitman have gifted us with an unimpeachable trilogy on empathy that challenges audience bias. And Tully is their riskiest entry yet.

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Jason Reitman & Diablo Cody, Round Three!

by Murtada

By now you’ve all heard about the post-screening Tribeca Film Festival panel that went around the world. The moderator at a Scarface 35th anniversary screening, asked Michelle Pfeiffer about her weight during filming.

As the father of a daughter, I'm concerned about body image. The preparation for this film — what did you weigh? 

The horror! The audience met the question with groans, and Pfeiffer handled it superbly, focusing on her work for the film.

I was at another Tribeca event happening at the same time. One that was markedly devoid of sexist questions and uncomfortable moments. In fact it was the opposite of that...

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"Tully" Teases

Chris here. Has everyone come around to the comedy masterpiece that is Young Adult yet? If not, allow yourself a revisit in the coming months because we have an enticing reunion between its team. Charlize Theron returns for director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody for Tully, a tale of contemporary suburban motherhood. 

This time around Halt and Catch Fire's Mackenzie Davis joins the collaborators as the titular nanny who helps Theron's mother cope with the demands of parenting, and they begin to establish a bond together as well. While Reitman/Cody are more widely known for their Juno collaboration which landed Cody an Oscar, this film looks to skew closer to Young Adult based on the just released teaser. The almost dialogue free 90 seconds is filled with brisk detail and tough honesty (not to mention a few belly laughs) that reminds immediately Young Adult's painfully precise opening sequence. Will this satiric look at new motherhood be equally spot on? Things are already promising for something special when the film opens April 20!

Young Adult Reunion: Now with Pictures

by Murtada

As previously mentioned, the three principals of Young Adult - writer Diablo Cody, director Jason Reitman and star Charlize Theron - are reuniting for a new movie. Now there is evidence it will only be a matter of months before we can see it. Tully started shooting in Vancouver and there are pictures to prove it. This is cause for some excitement around these parts where there are many Young Adult fans, no?

The new comedy tells the story of Marlo (Theron) — a mother of three, including a newborn — who is gifted a night nanny by her brother. Hesitant at the extravagance at first, she comes to form a unique bond with the thoughtful, surprising and sometimes challenging young nanny named Tully (played by Mackenzie Davis). You might know Davis from The Martian (2015) or the AMC TV show Halt and Catch Fire, this though looks to possibly be her big breakout, playing the title character and all. Ron Livingston - who will always be remembered as Carrie's awful boyfriend Jack Berger Post-It Man in Sex and the City- is also in the cast. Let's hope he's not as awful this time, if he's playing Theron's partner.

What do you think of Charlize's new look, padding or pounds?