Tallulah Review: Heder's direction shines


Three mothers — one temporary, one irresponsible, one remorseful — collide in "Tallulah," a poignant drama propelled by top-flight performances. Tallulah, or Lu (Ellen Page), lives out of her van, grifting and stealing with her boyfriend Nico (Evan Jonigkeit). When Nico abandons her, Lu goes looking for him in New York, visiting Nico's mom Margo (Allison Janney), who hasn't heard from her son in two years. Lu then goes scrounging in a Manhattan hotel, and ends up hired as a nanny for Madison, the ignored toddler of Carolyn (Tammy Blanchard), a wealthy boozer who's less concerned with her child than with her burgeoning extramarital affair. Lu decides to take Madison out of the hotel and to Margo, telling her that Madison is Lu and Nico's child. Writer-director Siân Heder's sharp, observant script introduces three wholly original female characters, all grappling in different ways with the constraints of motherhood. Those characters are well served by Page, Janney and Blanchard, who find depths of emotion in what otherwise could have been thin stereotypes. The emotional triple-punch they deliver is genuine and gut-wrenching.
Even when the script veers into contrived setups that have free spirit Tallulah waking Margo from her torpid life, "Tallulah" consistently offers terrific scenes featuring the duo of Page and Janney (who, it is worth noting, also excels in every solo scene). Their work together is the vibrant source of the film's appeal, and "Tallulah" is at its best when the plot recedes and we get to see Page and Janney's characters testing their tolerance and eventual affection for one another.
Heder's direction shines, shaping the film around the cast as each woman plays out their own specific nuances of loss and insecurity, and, occasionally, optimism. "Tallulah" is an impressive feature debut, and a welcome showcase for the talents of Page, Janney, and Blanchard

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

"New Film Directors - New Discoveries" is a blog dedicated to discovering new talents worldwide. Our mission is to empower emerging screenwriters and directors and to shine a light on their work through our blog so they can reach wider audience. Terrence Peterson, the author of the blog "New Film Directors - New Discoveries" is an acclaimed film critic with the degree of philosophy in Comparative Literature at Princeton, the external lecturer at 7 universities, including Princeton and Columbia, and the receiver of The National Order of Merit. All contributors are welcome to send their texts and reviews

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