Tallulah (film)
| Tallulah | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Sian Heder |
| Written by | Sian Heder |
| Produced by | Heather Rae Russell Levine Chris Columbus Eleanor Columbus Todd Traina Charlotte Ubben |
| Starring | Ellen Page Allison Janney |
| Cinematography | Paula Huidobro |
| Edited by | Darrin Navarro |
Production companies | Route One Entertainment Ocean Blue Entertainment |
| Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Tallulah is a 2016 comedy-drama film written and directed by Sian Heder. The film stars Ellen Page and Allison Janney and is set in New York City.
Plot
A young free-spirited woman rescues a baby from an irresponsible mother and pretends the child is her own with the help of her ex-boyfriend's mother. After being accused of kidnapping, she returns the child to its mother, and the three women form a close connection.[1]
Cast
- Ellen Page as Tallulah
- Allison Janney as Margo
- Evan Jonigkeit as Nico
- Tammy Blanchard as Carolyn
- David Zayas as the lead detective
- John Benjamin Hickey as Margo's ex-husband
- Zachary Quinto
- Uzo Aduba
- Frederic Lehne as Carolyn's husband
- Evangeline and Liliana Ellis as Madison
Production
Tallulah was written by Sian Heder as a spin-off of her 2006 short film Mother,[2] about a homeless woman who is forced to babysit a toddler with an irresponsible mother at a hotel. By the time that Mother was released in May 2006, Heder had completed the feature-length screenplay for Tallulah, based on her perception of women who "probably know they shouldn't have kids, but then they do it anyway".[3] The story was inspired by her experience of working as a babysitter for hotel guests in Los Angeles, when she was once required to babysit a toddler whose neglectful mother had come to a Beverly Hills hotel in order to have an extramarital affair. She said that, after the incident, "I left the hotel, got in my car and cried the whole way home, and I thought, I should have taken that kid."[3]
In May 2015, it was announced that Ellen Page and Allison Janney would star in the film's lead roles, after working together previously on Juno (2007) and Touchy Feely (2013).[4] Filming began in June 2015[1] in New York City, primarily in the borough of Manhattan.[2] The film is being produced by Heather Rae, Russell Levine, Chris Columbus, Eleanor Columbus and Todd Traina, and financed by Route One Entertainment and Ocean Blue Entertainment.[1]
Michael Lloyd and Cutting Edge Group will produce a soundtrack of songs inspired by the film's screenplay.[5]
Release
Tallulah premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival on 23 January 2016.[6] Prior to the film's premiere at the festival, Netflix acquired worldwide video-on-demand distribution rights to the film.[7]
Reception
The reviews from Sundance were positive. Nigel M. Smith of The Guardian gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, wrote that "Yes, the story has the makings of a Lifetime movie; what grounds it are the terrific performances and Heder's rich direction and screenplay." and praised Ellen Page and Allison Janney's performances.[8] Geoff Berkshire of Variety also praised the two leads and stated "Heder's script likely won't please those who prefer their indie dramas naturalistic and event-free. But the freewheeling storytelling enacted here has an excellent anchor in the grounded work of the ensemble cast."[9]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 78%, based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10.[10] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 69 out of 100, based on 6 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[11]
References
- ^ a b c Kay, Jeremy (May 20, 2015). "Ellen Page, Allison Janney to star in Route One's 'Tallulah'". Screen International. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
- ^ a b Gillette, Sam (June 16, 2015). "Ju-never-no When You'll Run into Ellen Page and Allison Janney". Bedford + Bowery. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
- ^ a b Welkos, Robert W. (May 26, 2006). "A nanny's insight". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
- ^ Hughes, William (May 21, 2015). "Ellen Page and Allison Janney to reunite (again) for Tallulah". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
- ^ McNary, Dave (June 23, 2015). "Tammy Blanchard, Evan Jonigkeit Join Ellen Page's 'Tallulah'". Variety. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
- ^ Sneider, Jeff (December 2, 2015). "Sundance: James Franco's 'Goat,' Ellen Page's 'Tallulah' Highlight Dramatic Competition". TheWrap. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
- ^ Berger, Laura (January 13, 2016). "Netflix Buys Sian Heder's 'Tallulah,' Starring Ellen Page and Allison Janney". Indiewire. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
- ^ Smith, Nigel (January 23, 2016). "Tallulah review – Ellen Page and Allison Janney make magic in baby drama". The Guardian. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Berkshire, Geoff (January 23, 2016). "Sundance Film Review: Ellen Page in 'Tallulah'". Variety. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Tallulah". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
- ^ "Tallulah". Metacritic. Retrieved February 3, 2016.