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The Tall Guy [1989] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
The Tall Guy [1989] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
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Director: Mel Smith
Actors: Jeff Goldblum, Rowan Atkinson, Emma Thompson, Geraldine James, Anna Massey
Studio: Miramax
Category: DVD

Buy New: £4.36
Buy New from £4.36

Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars(6 reviews)
Sales Rank: 64499

Format: Closed-captioned, Colour, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 92 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6

MPN: DISD21632D
UPC: 786936144550
EAN: 0786936144550
ASIN: B00005V1XY

Release Date: March 19, 2002
Theatrical Release Date: September 21, 1990
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days

Similar Items:

  • Peter's Friends [1992]
  • Sirens [1994]
  • Truly, Madly, Deeply [1992]
  • If.... [1968]
  • The Birdcage [1996]

Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.co.uk Review
The first feature to be directed by comedian Mel Smith, IThe Tall Guy/I is a blithely ramshackle comedy, essentially a vehicle for the gangling, geeky charms of Jeff Goldblum. He plays an American actor in London, living in a scruffy flat in Camden Town and stuck in a wretched job as sidekick to an obnoxious, egomaniac comedian (Rowan Atkinson). To compound his misery, he doesn't have a girlfriend--until, that is, he encounters a brisk, pretty nurse (Emma Thompson) with a refreshingly no-nonsense attitude to sex. Then, fired from his job, he lands the title role in a big-budget musical version of IThe Elephant Man/I (entitled IElephant!/I)--only to have his leading lady make a play for him. p IThe Tall Guy/I, as you might gather, isn't long on originality and Smith's direction is serviceable at best. But it boasts an intelligent and intermittently witty script from Richard Curtis (his first for a feature film), and coasts through on the charm of the two leads, a ripely self-mocking performance from Atkinson and some diverting set-pieces--not least a spoof sex-scene where Goldblum and Thompson, in the urgency of their rampant lust, demolish the contents of an entire room. (This scene was replayed in deadly earnest in Chen Kaige's calamitous excursion into English-language thrillers, IKilling Me Softly/I.) Smith and Curtis also have fun sending up various types of theatre: there's an audition for a Steven Berkoff production where the actors are required to scream "Fuck off" at each for minutes on end, and the musical (hit song "I'm Packing My Trunk") wickedly spoofs the Andrew Lloyd Webber school of composition. p BOn the DVD:/B IThe Tall Guy/I offers no extras except the theatrical trailer. The transfer is full-width, and both sound and visual come up cleanly. --IPhilip Kemp/I


Customer Reviews:   Read 1 more reviews...

1 out of 5 stars Absolute Rubbish   August 19, 2007
  0 out of 5 found this review helpful

I bought this film today beacause (a) I'd never heard of it so thought it must have bombed at the cinema and was interested to see why and (b) it was cheap (2.00). After seeing it, I now know why it's unknown and cheap. There are some funny (no, not hilarious as the DVD jacket tells us), if predictable, moments and Jeff Goldblum as usual is brilliant. There is a ridiculous scene with play acting to Madness's song (why was Suggs there?) and a predictable scene showing patients and staff in the hospital clapping when Kate agreed to Dexter another shot - thank God for fast forward on DVD player. Jeff what were you thinking of.


4 out of 5 stars A funny, clever and romantic movie   August 8, 2007
  2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Jeff Goldblum plays Dexter King, a tall American in London trying to establish himself as an actor. For the last two years he's been getting by playing stooge in the comedy act of a monumentally self-centered comedian, Ron Anderson, played by Rowan Atkinson. He meets Kate Lemmon, a nurse at a local hospital. In short order, he falls in love, gets fired by Anderson, is hired to play the lead in a London musical, has a fling, loses Kate, wins Kate back. br /br /The movie is funny and a bit whimsical, very clever, and is merciless at poking fun at the theater establishment. Dexter's big break, for instance, is playing John Merrick in Elephant!, a musical based on The Elephant Man. Think of third rate (or even first-rate) Andrew Lloyd-Weber. The book and songs are so awful and ponderous they're fascinating. Dexter's face makeup, in addition to huge lumps and ears, includes what looks like a small elephant's trunk attached to his nose. br /br /Goldblum narrates the movie and comes across as slightly neurotic but endearing, unsure of himself but able to come through when it counts. Emma Thompson's character is all brisk common sense with a big helping of drollness. They go to bed on their first date because, as Kate explains, it eliminates all the awkwardness later on. Their love making is hilarious and could have been directed by Buster Keaton. Rowan Atkinson, as usual, almost steals the movie. He has two or three routines on stage, one with Goldblum as stooge with both playing singing, dancing off-color nuns. "Is something bothering you, Dexter?" Atkinson's character asks solicitously afterwards backstage. "Well, yes there is," Dexter says. "Then sort it out," Atkinson snarls, "before I sack you and hire a lobotomized monkey to play your role." The happy resolution of the movie takes place in the emergency room of Kate's hospital where various badly damaged people are being brought in...maimed accident victims, a heart attack case, a fellow with a vacuum cleaner pipe lodged up his bottom. Somehow it all works out. br /br /This is a sweet, funny, intelligent movie with three first-rate lead actors. The DVD looks very good.


5 out of 5 stars Richard Curtis' greatest film!   December 9, 2005
  4 out of 4 found this review helpful

This is a very underrated movie! It is very different to Richard Curtis' other movies becuase it was not written for an American audience, as his other (more famous) movies were. The humour is more in line with that of his TV work such as Blackadder, and in my view that makes it much funnier!pThe script is absolutely hilarious! This is not just Richard Curtis' funniest film, but also one of the funniest films I have ever seen. It will have you laughing out loud from start to finish!pThe cast is also superb: Rowan Atkinson, Jeff Goldblum, Emma Thompson. Need I say more?pHighly recommended!


4 out of 5 stars Stands the Test of Time   September 7, 2005
  3 out of 3 found this review helpful

The Tall Guy was a favourite with my family when we were younger so it was with some trepidation that I bought it recently. However I can honestly say that I enjoyed it just as much watching it in my 30's as I did back then. pEmma Thomson - although not among my favourite actors - is great in this role. Her way-too-honest and abrupt manner is somehow refreshing and you genuinely like her. Jeff Goldblum is an american actor lacking in confidence who plays an unnoticed side-kick in Rowan Atkinson's character's stage show. pA lot of this movie is focussed on the production of a musical based on the Elephant Man - which frankly is reason enough to watch it. It's just so offensive - it's wonderful!pA very good movie. Very British and maybe slightly dated but still very good fun.


3 out of 5 stars Intriguing debut from the Curtis / Working Title stable   June 3, 2004
  2 out of 3 found this review helpful

Richard Curtis, eventual architect of 'Four Weddings', 'Notting Hill', 'Love Actually' and bits of 'Bridget Jones', kicked off his filmwriting career with this 1989 debut. pIt shows its youthfulness. Just as 'Four Weddings' had at its core a string of sketches based on weddings Curtis had attended (but very skillfully linked by a romantic story), so 'The Tall Guy' appears to have started with the idea of a pastiche musical based on the Elephant Man, around which Curtis wraps a romance between a supporting actor and a nurse. pCurtis's great buddy from Oxford, Rowan Atkinson, is brought in to play a control-freak comedian -- no type-casting there, then -- but there are a few ex-Cambridge people too: Emma Thompson, Mel Smith etc. Jeff Goldblum is good as the lead, but there's no evidence that the script was specially written for him in particular or an American in general.pThis film is perhaps now best known for the slapstick sex scene between Thompson and Goldblum, which manages to be (slightly) erotic while also revealing a basic truth about the domestic tidiness of all nurses I have known.pMany of the standard Curtis plot elements appear in a formative stage for this film: the early sexual encounter, followed by the break-up, followed by a finale in which the protagonists make a grand declaration of true love in front of a large crowd, the pop video sequence etc etc.pI suspect this is now a budget-priced DVD because Curtis is slightly embarrassed by it. But it's 88 enjoyable minutes of good, largely clean fun. As ever, Emma Thompson is the most convincing actor on the screen. Fifteen years on, she talks frankly about her varicose veins and growing old. It's probably handy to have a film which she can now show her children and say "This is what I used to look like before anything drooped."

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