Kurt at 18:42, 19 March 2023

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	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	\| image = The Tall Guy.jpg		\| image = The Tall Guy.jpg
	\| caption = Theatrical release poster		\| caption = Theatrical release poster (USA)
	\| writer = [[Richard Curtis]]		\| writer = [[Richard Curtis]]
	\| starring = {{Plainlist\|		\| starring = {{Plainlist\|

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	~~{{distinguish\|text=the 2012 thriller [[The Tall Man (2012 film)\|The Tall Man]]}}~~
	~~{{EngvarB\|date=September 2013}}~~
	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=November 2022}}~~
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	~~\| name = The Tall Guy~~
	\| image = The Tall Guy.jpg		\| image = The Tall Guy.jpg
	\| caption = Theatrical release poster		\| caption = Theatrical release poster
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	* {{rotten-tomatoes\|the_tall_guy}}		* {{rotten-tomatoes\|the_tall_guy}}

	~~{{Mel Smith}}~~
	{{Richard Curtis}}		{{Richard Curtis}}

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{{distinguish|text=the 2012 thriller [[The Tall Man (2012 film)|The Tall Man]]}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Tall Guy
| image = The Tall Guy.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| writer = [[Richard Curtis]]
| starring = {{Plainlist|
* [[Jeff Goldblum]]
* [[Emma Thompson]]
* [[Rowan Atkinson]]}}
| director = [[Mel Smith]]
| cinematography = [[Adrian Biddle]]
| studio = [[London Weekend Television]]<br />[[Working Title Films]]
| distributor = [[Virgin Films|Virgin Vision]]
| released = {{film date|df=y|1989|6|23|UK|1990|9|21|US}}
| runtime = 86 minutes
| language = English
| country = United Kingdom
| gross = $510,712<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=tallguy.htm|title=The Tall Guy (1990) |publisher=Box Office Mojo |access-date=15 June 2022}}</ref><br>£1,586,383 (UK)<ref name="org">{{cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-back-to-the-future-the-fall-and-rise-of-the-british-film-industry-in-the-1980s.pdf|page=29|title=Back to the Future: The Fall and Rise of the British Film Industry in the 1980s – An Information Briefing|website=British Film Institute|date=2005}}</ref>
}}

'''''The Tall Guy''''' is a 1989 British [[romantic comedy]] and the feature film debut of screenwriter [[Richard Curtis]] and director [[Mel Smith]].<ref name="guard">[http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,1084020,00.html It's magic], a 2003 article about Richard Curtis from ''[[The Guardian]]''</ref> It was produced by [[London Weekend Television]] for theatrical release and stars [[Jeff Goldblum]], [[Emma Thompson]] and [[Rowan Atkinson]]. Curtis's script draws from his experiences as straight man to long-time collaborator Rowan Atkinson.<ref name="WPost">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/thetallguyrkempley_a0a0a0.htm|title=The Tall Guy|last=Kempley|first=Rita|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=23 August 2008|date=21 September 1990}}</ref>

==Plot==
The protagonist and narrator is Dexter King (Goldblum), an American actor working in London and living platonically in [[Camden Town]] with his "educated, charming... nymphomaniac" landlady (played by Geraldine James). He has just finished his sixth year playing "The Tall Guy", a [[straight man]] in a two-man, long-running comedy [[revue]] starring (and dominated by) Ron Anderson (Rowan Atkinson, playing a role based on himself).<ref name="C4Film">{{cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=109065|title=The Tall Guy Review|work=Channel 4 Film|publisher=Channel 4|access-date=23 August 2008}}</ref>

Chronic [[hay fever]] prompts him to see a doctor, where he meets and falls quickly in love with Kate (played by Emma Thompson), who works there as a nurse.

Soon after meeting Kate, Dexter is fired by Ron. After being rejected for a role in a new [[Steven Berkoff]] play for "lacking anger", Dexter wins the title role in a new [[Royal Shakespeare Company]] [[musical theater|musical]] based on ''[[The Elephant Man (play)|The Elephant Man]]''. It's "a sparkily nasty send-up of [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]]"<ref name="guard"/> called ''Elephant!'' which features a song called "He’s Packing His Trunk" and a finale which ends with the lyric "Somewhere up in heaven there's an angel with big ears!"

During rehearsal, Dexter succumbs to the advances of a married co-star (played by [[Kim Thomson]]). On the new musical's opening night, Kate puts together evidence of the affair from a few subtle clues, and leaves Dexter without further ado.

After seeing a scene in a televised award show that suggests Ron is now dating Kate, Dexter impulsively gives up his role in ''Elephant!'' just before the curtain rises, with plans to make an impassioned plea to Kate to take him back. With Ron's involuntary help (Dexter ties him up in his dressing room and steals his car), Dexter presents his case to Kate in a busy hospital ward. Kate agrees to give him another chance.

==Cast==
The cast includes:
{{div col}}
* [[Jeff Goldblum]] as Dexter King
* [[Rowan Atkinson]] as Ron Anderson
* [[Emma Thompson]] as Kate Lemmon
* [[Geraldine James]] as Carmen
* [[Anna Massey]] as Mary
* [[Kim Thomson]] as Cheryl
* [[Hugh Thomas (actor)|Hugh Thomas]] as Dr. Karabekian
* [[Emil Wolk]] as Cyprus Charlie
* [[Tim Barlow]] as Mr. Morrow
* [[Harold Innocent]] as Timothy
* [[Joanna Kanska]] as Tamara
* [[Angus Deayton]] as Actor in Agent's Office
* [[Jason Isaacs]] as 2nd Doctor
{{div col end}}
The film also includes [[cameo appearance]]s from [[John Inman]], [[Melvyn Bragg]], [[Suggs (singer)|Suggs]], [[Jonathan Ross]] and director [[Mel Smith]].

==Production==
[[Principal photography]] occurred in 1988.<ref>{{cite web | title= What Jeff loves about London | last= Curtis | url= http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/theatre/article-23434731-what-jeff-loves-about-london.do | date= 29 January 2008 | work= [[Evening Standard]]|location=London | access-date= 14 October 2010 | url-status= dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110606112046/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/theatre/article-23434731-what-jeff-loves-about-london.do | archive-date= 6 June 2011 }}</ref> Nearly twenty years later, Mel Smith, calling his directorial debut the high point of his career, commented on the directing experience: "I didn't know enough about the film business, and so it seemed wonderfully easy."<ref>{{cite news| url= https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2007/feb/06/comedy.television | title= Portrait of the artist | work= The Guardian | date= 6 February 2007 | access-date=14 October 2010 | location=London | first=Natalie | last=Hanman}}</ref>

==Critical reception==
Upon its September 1990 US release, ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' gave it a B−, describing it as "mildly charming and mostly too broad" and accusing it of overplaying "Dexter's dorkiness in the same way it overplays the big sex scene, the romantic montage, the breakup scene…"<ref>{{cite news| url= http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,318262,00.html | title=The Tall Guy | date=28 September 1990 | first= Owen | last=Gleiberman | publisher= [[Entertainment Weekly]]| access-date=14 October 2010}}</ref> Caryn James of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote "even when its bright theatrical satire gives way to men dressed as nuns dancing in wimples and red sequined shorts, this modest comedy is always wickedly endearing, thanks to the off-kilter characters played by Mr. Goldblum and Emma Thompson as the unlikely woman of his dreams."<ref>{{cite news| url= https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C0CE2DD1E31F932A1575AC0A966958260 | title= Nuns! Elephants! Must the Show Go On?| date= 21 September 1990 | first=Caryn | last=James | work= [[The New York Times]]| access-date= 14 October 2010}}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] called the film a "sweet, whimsical and surprisingly intelligent comedy" whose "last third ...turns into a hilarious [[parody|sendup]] of the modern musical" that "must be the funniest deliberately bad play in a movie since Mel Brooks' "[[Springtime for Hitler]]" in ''[[The Producers (1968 film)|The Producers]]''."<ref>{{cite news | url= http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19900921/REVIEWS/9210303/1023 | title= The Tall Guy | first= Roger| last=Ebert | author-link= Roger Ebert | date= 21 September 1990 | work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] | access-date=14 October 2010}}</ref> The ''[[Deseret News]]'' called it a "most uneven romantic comedy," saying "If you're a [[Monty Python]] fan, lower your expectations a notch. We're more in [[Benny Hill]] territory here....The highlights here are easily the staged "Elephant!" sequences, with some very funny sendups of the gargantuan musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber."<ref>{{cite web| title= The Tall Guy | url= http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700001799/The-Tall-Guy.html | publisher= [[Deseret News]] | date= 11 December 1990 | first= Chris | last= Hicks| access-date=14 October 2010}}</ref>

On review aggregator [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has an approval rating of 85% based on 20 reviews and an average rating of 6.7/10.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_tall_guy|title=The Tall Guy (1990)|work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|access-date=26 October 2022}}</ref> In a 2003 mid-career retrospective about Richard Curtis, ''[[The Guardian]]'' described the film as being "patronised in one sense by critics while not patronised in the other by audiences.".<ref name="guard"/> It also identified several [[trope (literature)|tropes]] from ''The Tall Guy'' that would be utilised in his subsequent romantic comedies, (''[[Four Weddings and a Funeral]]'', ''[[Notting Hill (film)|Notting Hill]]'' and ''[[Love Actually]]''):<ref name="guard"/>
* romantic lightning strikes that "Curtis seems to believe in as much as any figure in history apart from [[Cupid]]";
* the "willingness to sacrifice realism to a gag" (e.g. turning cartwheels in front of a giant Moon to show that Dexter is in love);
* the "wacky but wise" flatmate;
* the use of eccentric obscenities (e.g. Ron's question "What in the name of Judas Iscariot's bumboy is going on?").

==Soundtrack==
The score is by [[Peter Brewis]]. The soundtrack also includes [[Labi Siffre]]'s "[[It Must Be Love (Madness song)|It Must Be Love]]", performed by [[Madness (band)|Madness]]. The film features a [[Montage (filmmaking)|montage]] in which various characters sing along to this song, and which includes a cameo by Madness frontman [[Suggs (singer)|Suggs]].<ref name="DVDTimes">{{cite web|url=http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=5290|title=The Tall Guy|last=Sutton|first=Mike| date=7 February 2003|work=DVD Times| access-date=23 August 2008}}</ref> Other tracks include "[[Let the Heartaches Begin]]" ([[Long John Baldry]]), "[[Heartbreak Hotel]]" (Sam Williams), "[[Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (song)|Breaking Up Is Hard to Do]]" and "[[Crying in the Rain]]" (both performed by [[Phil Pope]]).<ref name="Mooviees">{{cite web| url=http://www.mooviees.com/4770/soundtrack| title=The Tall Guy (1989) Soundtrack| year=2002|work=Mooviees.com| access-date=23 August 2008}}</ref>

==Home video==
According to [[WorldCat]], the film was released on VHS and Laserdisc in 1990 by [[RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video]].<ref>{{cite book| title= Showing all editions for 'The Tall Guy'| date= December 2007 | publisher= WorldCat | isbn= 9780802196019 | oclc= 49504933}}</ref> It was released on VHS in the UK by Virgin Vision, and on DVD in 2003 by [[Buena Vista Home Entertainment]].

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|0098436|The Tall Guy}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|the_tall_guy}}

{{Mel Smith}}
{{Richard Curtis}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tall Guy, The}}
[[Category:1989 films]]
[[Category:1989 romantic comedy films]]
[[Category:British romantic comedy films]]
[[Category:Films about actors]]
[[Category:Films directed by Mel Smith]]
[[Category:Films set in London]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Richard Curtis]]
[[Category:Working Title Films films]]
[[Category:1989 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:1980s English-language films]]
[[Category:1980s British films]]

The Tall Guy - Revision history

Kurt at 18:42, 19 March 2023

Kurt at 18:41, 19 March 2023

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Citation bot: Add: newspaper. Removed parameters. Some additions/deletions were parameter name changes. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by Superegz | Category:1980s British films | #UCB_Category 304/580