海角大神

Motherhood is so often sanctimoniously depicted in the movies that the acerbity of 鈥淭ully,鈥� directed by Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody, is initially off-putting. Charlize Theron plays Marlo, in her ninth month of pregnancy, who has a precocious 8-year-old daughter (Lia Frankland), a special-needs son (Asher Miles Fallica), and a well-meaning husband (Ron Livingston) whose default in life is playing video games. In her 40s, Marlo is not exactly looking forward to another baby. For her, the birth represents something less than a 鈥渂lessed event.鈥� She has听辫谤别-partum depression.聽

Sensing what is to come, her moneyed brother (Mark Duplass) offers to pay for a night nanny, a suggestion Marlo at first soundly rejects. Who wants a stranger coming into their home at night? But once the baby is born, Reitman flashes a grueling montage of baby yowling and diaper changings and all-nighters, and Marlo decides to give the night nanny idea a go. Soon enough, the 20-something Tully (Mackenzie Davis) arrives on her doorstep and, like Mary Poppins, proceeds to set things aright. She tells Marlo, 鈥淚鈥檓 here to take care of you.鈥澛�

Reitman and Cody worked together previously on 鈥淛uno鈥� and 鈥淵oung Adult鈥� (the latter with Theron), and they share a cynical-sentimental streak. In 鈥淭ully,鈥� the cynicism about the supposed undiluted joys of motherhood rings true, or at least truer than in movies that don鈥檛 admit such a station in life can be less than paradise. The movie is very acute about the ways in which Marlo, during pregnancy and after, is often subtly or not so subtly judged by outsiders. (A scene in a coffee shop in which the pregnant Marlo orders a decaf coffee even after a patron sniffily informs her that decaf has traces of caffeine in it is typically telling.)聽

The movie is also very sharp about the ways in which Marlo鈥檚 senses explode when she realizes she no longer has to be fully responsible for her baby. She dreams of mermaids. (Well, maybe that part I could have done without.) She credits Tully with giving her back her life. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like I can see colors again,鈥� she tells her.聽

We know enough about Marlo to get a fix on her predicament (though I could have done with more). A hippie hell-raiser in her 20s, she settled into uneasy domesticity in suburban New York but still feels as if she鈥檚 missed out on being the person she might have been.聽

But what do we know about Tully? She arrives as a kind of deus ex machina, and she appears to know everything. (Marlo says of her, 鈥淪he鈥檚 like a book of fun facts for unpopular fourth-graders.鈥�) Even without a weird Act 3 plot twist, Tully鈥檚 character is problematic. As well-played as she is by Davis, there鈥檚 a wish-fulfillment aspect to the role that makes it easy for us to buy into the film鈥檚 notion that all Marlo needed was to love herself more and all would turn out for the best. A privileged sanctimony clings to this movie that is not fully recognized by its filmmakers: After all, not every distraught new mother can afford a self-help guru.聽

Theron, who gained weight for the role, helps redeem the film鈥檚 fuzzier aspects. She gives Cody鈥檚 smartest lines the snap they deserve, but she also conveys a bone-deep world-weariness that demonstrates just how dire is Marlo鈥檚 desire for regeneration. And she doesn鈥檛 go all gooey on us when things brighten. She may be able to see colors again, but she can also register the shadows.聽Grade: B (Rated R for language and some sexuality/nudity.)