Product Details

• Actors: Glenn Fitzgerald, Anson Mount, Bob Burrus, Julianne Nicholson, Laura Walker
• Directors: Amy K. Barrett, Hilary Birmingham
• Writers: Amy K. Barrett, Hilary Birmingham, Matt Drake, Tom McNeal
• Producers: Anne Sundberg, Chip Signore
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Arts Alliance Amer
• DVD Release Date: June 17, 2003
• Run Time: 102 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00009AV8C
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,208 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Tully" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

From The New Yorker

A gently paced rural drama, co-written and directed by Hilary Birmingham, about two brothers who work on their father's failing farm, and a secret that comes to light. Anson Mount and Glenn Fitzgerald play the brothers with a quiet regard that's quite moving. Birmingham's direction is deftly composed and filled with background details, like the disconnected seat belt inside the car of the town's wild girl. The movie is a bit precious, but cunningly melodramatic and surprisingly effective. -Bruce Diones
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Product Description

Studio: Arts Alliance America Release Date: 07/17/2007 Run time: 102 minutes

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Two brothers and the summer a hidden past is revealed, July 16, 2003

By 

Ronald Scheer "rockysquirrel" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tully (DVD)

Based on my memory of reviews when this film was first released, I expected a kind of comedy-drama-romance, which it is not. It can best be described as a family melodrama, set on a small farm in Nebraska (actually shot in the rural community of Ft. Calhoun, near Omaha). The elements are somewhat familiar: an older man raising two sons, of somewhat different temperaments, all haunted by the memory of a mother who had aspirations beyond the narrow confines of the farm (she names a horse Jackie, after Jackie Kennedy, because she "liked famous people"). During a summer, as the boys have grown into young men, the truth of their mother's past begins to make itself known, and all are deeply affected.

The story has a leisurely pace as it unfolds, and for a time it seems to be about the growing attraction between womanizer Tully and Ella, a college-educated friend of his younger brother. But this becomes a thread in the larger story of a family's secrets and loyalties surfacing after years of silence and half-truths. For its length, it's a small film, and its strength is not in big effects, sex and nudity, or heavy plotting. Instead there are well-acted scenes between people in muted conflict who struggle with emotions and the difficulty of trusting others with the truth about themselves. This will not be everyone's idea of entertainment, but as indie movies go, I found that it rewarded my patience.

The cinematography captures the deep greens of mid-summer, and scenes are often shot in early morning or late afternoon, so the golden, glancing sunlight lights characters with a rich glow and casts cool shadows. Night scenes are played against a textured fabric of insect sounds. Always the camera captures the isolation and solitude of country living.

Perhaps the only real ring of inaccuracy in the film is the fact that so little of the dawn-to-dusk work of actual farming is reflected in the lives of the characters. These boys have an awful lot of time on their hands; the farm seems to take care of itself. The film is based on a story by writer Tom McNeal, whose novel "Goodnight, Nebraska" has similar characters (a young couple), a rural small town setting, and touches on similar themes. For fans of the film, I recommend McNeal's book.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quiet Midwestern Life (And One of 2002's Best Films), July 11, 2003

By 

mirasreviews (McLean, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tully [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Tully (Anson Mount) and his brother Earl (Glenn Fitzgerald) live and work on their family farm with their Father (Bob Burrus), their Mother having died when the boys were children. While Tully is an outgoing, sometimes overbearing, ladies' man, Earl is introverted, shy and often the object of his brother's teasing. When their Father receives a foreclosure notice from a collection agency over money that he didn't know that he owed, a series of events are set into motion that change the relationship between Father and sons and bring the family's past into the forefront of their present lives. The tension created by old secrets and new problems causes Tully to abandon his womanizing ways and puerile demeanor and seek the friendship of Ella (Julianne Nicholson), a young woman who is a good friend of Earl's. Ella's friends fear for her feelings when she becomes friendly with Tully, and Tully himself tries to drive Ella away when he realizes that he has strong feelings for her at the same time he must deal with family crises. But Ella and Tully fall in love in spite of these things and cope together when an unexpected tragedy brings an end to the family's crisis.

"Tully"'s quiet tone and measured pace beautifully reflect the midwestern landscape which is not only the setting for this film, but often seems to be a character in it as well. It would be accurate to say that the pace of this film is slow. But its leisurely pace is deliberately and meticulously crafted, and it never drags or bores. The family crises in "Tully" could easily be construed as the stuff of melodramas, but there isn't a bit of melodrama in this film. The characters seem so real that you might think to reach out and touch them, and they cope with revelations that strike at the heart of their self-images the way that level-headed people do: Mostly privately, quietly and effectively. I cannot praise director Hilary Birmingham, cinematographer John Foster, and the principal actors enough for being able to sustain "Tully"'s even, quiet lyricism throughout the film. Impeccable pacing, exquisite cinematography, an excellent script, and great understated performances, so rarely seen together, combine to make "Tully" a true gem of a film. I expected this to be a decent midwestern drama, which inspires limited enthusiasm. But it turned out to be one of the best films of 2002. (It was actually made in 2000.) "Tully" isn't a movie for those who like their films frenetically-paced, but it is a beautiful film with astonishingly good and touchingly subdued performances. I look forward to future projects from director Hilary Birmingham and this excellent cast.

Note: On the VHS version of this film, there is a short film entitled "The Third Date" that precedes the main feature. It takes place on Coney Island, features a cameo appearance by Sandra Bernhard and has no relation to "Tully". Don't think that you have the wrong tape if, at first, you see "The Third Date".

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional and Touching, November 4, 2003

By 

Ben T. (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tully (DVD)

I almost missed this film until my friend told me it was his favorite movie of that year. I ran out to see it and it is a gem! Art-film from beginning to end, this soft-spoken story comes alive and envelopes you in the realities of small town life. There are no "villians" or "Heroes" and the story has nowhere to go other than to chronical the lives of these people for a short time. It is so easy to care for these people.
Afterwards, I took another friend to go see it as an "emergency movie" to a tiny little theater in Berkley (the only place that was still showing it, 48 miles away). After the film he stood up and said "That was pure quality."

I agree.