Charlize Theron shines again in motherhood dramedy 'Tully'

An early montage in “Tully” should be used as a public service announcement for anyone seriously considering parenthood. It follows Marlo (Charlize Theron) over a series of sleepless nights tending to her newborn — the breastfeeding, the pumping, the crying, the bizarre late-night television, the brief minutes of rest in between — it all bleeds together in a hazy and seemingly never-ending time loop.

It’s perhaps the best and most efficient depiction of the exhausting side of raising kids, and it sets the table for an even more insightful exploration on how parents struggle to maintain an independent identity outside of constant childcare.

“Tully,” directed by Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody, mixes humor and drama along a more relaxed and confident narrative compared to their two prior (and still very good) collaborations, “Juno” and the Theron-starring, “Young Adult.” Cody’s script here especially finds ways to be smart without overemphasizing the cleverness of its characters.

The film begins as mother-of-two Marlo tries to endure her kids’ schedule on the eve of delivering baby No. 3. Her husband, Drew (Ron Livingston) is well-meaning but distracted by a promotion at work, and the couple’s young son begins to display behavior his school no longer cares to manage.

The new baby further escalates the domestic chaos for Marlo, so her rich brother Craig (Mark Duplass) offers to pay for a night nanny so that Marlo can sleep and recharge.

The night nanny is Tully, played by Mackenzie Davis, a young, free spirit with an almost eerie sense of calm and enlightenment. Marlo initially resists the notion of a weird stranger caring for her child in the middle of the night, but, as parents understand, sleep is magnificent.

Reitman and Cody play coy with Tully during the film’s middle act — she genuinely serves as a life preserver and confidant to Marlo, but she’s also … well, describing it leads to what happens in the third act, and the movie will challenge viewers with some divisive revelations.

Regardless of the games being played on a story level, “Tully” sustains itself with yet-another committed and powerful performance by Theron. Marlo is warm but beaten down by her own unsatiated expectations. She wants to be a poster-woman for motherhood but also wants an identity totally independent of her spawn. Every scene is a showcase for Theron’s unshowy-but-persuasive depiction of that seemingly impossible balancing act.

As for the climax, “Tully” tries something that initially seems like a colossal misstep in storytelling. Hang with it until the end, because what Cody and Reitman are going for isn’t quite as it first appears. A few advocacy groups have knocked “Tully” for misrepresenting something they think shouldn’t be the focus of a comedy about motherhood. Those arguments seem to be focused more on a throwaway line of dialogue versus what Marlo appears to be experiencing throughout the film. Without spoiling the reveals, give the filmmakers more credit, and let Theron’s performance take you to the end before passing judgment

One stay-at-home-daddy nitpick: Ron Livingston’s Drew spends most of the movie exhausted from work and absent during the film’s overnight sequences. At one point, he explains to Marlo why he can’t help with a breastfeeding baby at night. He says, “I can’t be much help in that department anyway,” then spends the rest of the movie playing video games and sleeping blissfully. The movie sort of lets him off the hook for it too.

Drew, you can do plenty overnight for your breastfeeding partner. When the baby gets up, change the diaper, bring the baby to Mom, then help the baby back to sleep after Mom finishes nursing. Dads can and should be a big help. Drew needs to do better.

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Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com