Review of Tall Guy, The

Introduction

Ahh, this film brings back memories, even though I`ve only seen it once before, back when it first came out on VHS. Despite not having seen it since that time, I still remember a great deal of it. Jeff Goldblum stars as Dexter King, and is the embodiment of gawky, awkward and clumsy. Emma Thompson makes her first big screen outing and Rowan Atkinson makes one of his earliest big screen outings, long before Four Weddings, but years after his brief appearance in Never Say Never Again. His car (a blue Aston Martin, registration "COM1C") also appears and gets stopped for speeding. As it so often does, life imitated art, as Atkinson was stopped for speeding in the very same car, many years after the film was released.

Then it`s a case of spot the Brit, with cameos from Jon Inman, Angus Deayton, Melvyn Bragg, Jonathan Ross, Suggs, writer Richard Curtis and director Mel Smith (making his debut in the directing chair). The plot is classic and simple - boy meets girl 1, boy meets girl 2 and has an affair. Girl 1 ditches boy, boy does his utmost to get girl 1 back.

Video

A run of the mill 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer. It`s not stunning, but it`s not hideous. It looks pretty much as a 1989 print of a film would be expected to do.

Lots of good visual gags in this film, from the rubber faced Rowan Atkinson, through to one of the most rioutous love scenes ever committed to celluloid.

Audio

A DD2.0 surround soundtrack which won`t give your system a huge workout. Everything is clear and audible, the music sounds good, and that`s about all there is to say about it.

Some very amusing lines populate the film including gems such as "I hope all your children have very small dicks! And that includes the girls!" and "Are you going to walk me home? Or should I just get murdered on my own?"

Features

Just the trailer. Being a fan of the film I wanted a lot more.

Conclusion

If you`ve followed the work of Richard Curtis then you`ll spot the familiar "boy meets girl, messes it up and tries to get her back again" pattern which runs through The Tall Guy, Four Weddings and Notting Hill. Despite their relative commercial successes, I still prefer The Tall Guy out of all of them. I just like the interaction between the leads and the film still makes me laugh.

Apart from her Oscar (and about 7 other awards) winning turn in Howards End, and the enjoyable Much Ado About Nothing, this is probably one of Emma Thompson`s best big screen outings. Similarly with Jeff Goldblum, alongside his appearances in the money-spinning Independence Day and Jurassic Park (and sequel), this remains one of his best films, even after all these years.

I`m not a fan of the romantic comedy genre, but this one deserves a look as it`s very funny and very entertaining. Shame there`s not more on the disc but at least it`s reasonably priced.