Though it winds up strongly affirming marriage and family
life, this comedy takes a path to that positive outcome that most viewers may
not wish to follow. As a baby present to mark the arrival of her third child,
an already overworked and exhausted mother (Charlize Theron) is offered the
free services of a night nanny (Mackenzie Davis) by her prosperous brother
(Mark Duplass). Though she hesitates to accept the gift at first, once she
relents, she finds that the relief provided by the remarkably gifted,
free-spirited young caregiver revitalizes her relationship with her loving but
distracted husband (Ron Livingston) and with their two older kids (Lia
Frankland and Asher Miles Fallica). Yet all is not as it seems. Some of the
moral difficulties inherent in director Jason Reitman's film, as scripted by
Diablo Cody, are offset by its ultimate point. Others are resolved by
unforeseen plot development. Still others, however, remain, though mostly in
the background.
Watch out for: Some
misguided values, including implicit acceptance of promiscuity and homosexual
acts, strong sexual content involving pornographic images, nudity, marital
lovemaking and a problematic scene of childhood sexuality, a couple of uses of
profanity and numerous rough and crude terms.
Rated: L, limited adult
audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling;
MPAA: R
© Arlington Catholic Herald 2018