Movies - The Tall Guy

Home > Listing Index > Movies > The Tall Guy

	Movies - The Tall Guy

The Tall Guy is a 1989 romantic comedy written by Richard Curtis, directed by Mel Smith and produced by London Weekend Television for theatrical release. The farcical yet tender-hearted film stars Jeff Goldblum and Emma Thompson, with costars Rowan Atkinson and Geraldine James.

The title character and narrator is Dexter King (Goldblum), an American actor living and working in London. He is stuck in a career rut as a straight man in a two-man, long-running revue starring (and dominated by) Ron Anderson. Anderson is played by Atkinson, in an egotistic and nasty version of Atkinson's own persona.

Dexter's love life as he approaches his 40th birthday has been mostly a disaster. Chronic allergies prompt him to see a doctor, where he meets and falls quickly in love with Kate (played by Thompson), who works there as a nurse.

Soon after meeting Kate, Dexter is fired by Ron. After growing somewhat desperate for employment, Dexter is given what becomes the title role in a new Royal Shakespeare Company musical about Joseph Merrick the Elephant Man, called Elephant! (an over-the-top production featuring a song called “He’s Packing His Trunk” and ending with the lyric "Somewhere in heaven there's an angel with big ears!"). The couple, who are already living together, are happy that the tough times are over.

Complications ensue as Dexter fails to resist the advances of a married co-star, Cheryl (Kim Thomson). Kate picks up on subtle clues of the affair, and leaves Dexter without further ado.

After seeing a scene in a televised award show that suggests Ron is now dating Kate, Dexter gives up his role in Elephant! to make an impassioned plea to Kate to take him back, and in the end, she does. He also exacts revenge on Ron for all the years of abuse, tying him up in his dressing room and leaving with the door locked, as well as stealing the keys to Ron's car.

Trivia

Curtis and Atkinson toured in 1980 in a revue featuring Curtis as Atkinson's straight man.
The most prominent song, Labi Siffre's "It Must Be Love", is performed by Madness.
The film includes cameo appearances from Melvyn Bragg and Jonathan Ross.
Tim Barlow
who plays Mr. Morrow, the blind man allergic to his guide dog, is actually profoundly deaf

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for The Tall Guy ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article The Tall Guy; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay