The Tall Guy (1989)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Mel Smith

Writer:

Richard Curtis (writer)

Release Date:

21 September 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

Dexter King plays straight man to unpleasant comedian Ron Anderson. He falls in love with Kate, a pretty...

Plot Keywords:

Comedian | Elephant Man | Elephant | Love | Nurse

Cast

Jeff Goldblum	...	Dexter King
Rowan Atkinson	...	Ron Anderson
Emma Thompson	...	Kate Lemmon
Geraldine James	...	Carmen
Anna Massey	...	Mary
Kim Thomson	...	Cheryl
Hugh Thomas	...	Dr. Karabekian
Emil Wolk	...	Cyprus Charlie
Harold Innocent	...	Timothy
Joanna Kanska	...	Tamara
B.J. Rambo	...	'Elephant' Chorus
Jan Lloyd	...	'Elephant' Chorus
Peter Kelly	...	Gavin
Tim Barlow	...	Mr. Morrow (as Timothy Barlow)
Charles Lamb	...	Old Man in Wheelchair

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Company:

London Weekend Television (LWT)

Trivia:

Jeff Goldblum was only free because of an actors strike in the USA.

Goofs:

Continuity: Kate and Dexter would not have been able to place ladders against the poster of Ron Anderson; the next scene shows an awning that would have been in the way.

Quotes:

Dexter: All these weeks I've been coming here, I've been wanting to ask you something. What I really want to know is... er, what's your name?
Kate: Kate... Lemmon. Horrid name!
Dexter: No, no, not at all. Could have been worse. Could have been called Hitler, Tampon, or something.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs The Elephant Man (1980)

Soundtrack:

Let The Heartaches Begin

One scene alone makes it worth seeing

Now, I have to say that I went to see this based on the review of Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, both of whom could not get through a sentence without breaking into laughter when discussing several key scenes. I had never seen either one of them behave that way before, so I went out--this is, what, twelve years ago?--and plunked down my $5 and proceeded to laugh my butt off for two hours. I found both the sex scene and the scene of the musical to be minor gems, and can't recommend this film highly enough, particularly if you are A) a Jeff Goldblum fan, B) an Emma Thompson fan C) a Rowan Atkinson fan, or D) a musical theatre aficionado. You will laugh about the musical theater scene for years to come, particularly if you think Andrew Lloyd Webber is the antichrist, as I do.