The Tall Guy
| Company type | Film |
|---|---|
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Founder | Richard Curtis (screenwriter), Mel Smith (director) |
| Products | Romantic comedy film |
The Tall Guy is a 1989 British romantic comedy marking the first feature film for both screenwriter Richard Curtis and director Mel Smith. Created by London Weekend Television for cinema distribution, the movie stars Jeff Goldblum, Emma Thompson, and Rowan Atkinson. Curtis’s screenplay is informed by his experience acting as the straight man alongside collaborator Rowan Atkinson.
Plot
Dexter King, an American actor based in London, has just finished a six-year run portraying "The Tall Guy," the straight man in a popular comedy revue led by Ron Anderson. After meeting Kate, a nurse, Dexter falls deeply in love but soon loses his job when Ron fires him. He fails to land a role in a Steven Berkoff play due to being deemed "insufficiently angry," but subsequently wins the lead in a Royal Shakespeare Company musical satire titled Elephant!, which parodies The Elephant Man.
While rehearsing, Dexter engages in an affair with a married fellow cast member. Kate discovers this betrayal on opening night and ends their relationship. Believing Ron is romantically involved with Kate, Dexter abruptly leaves Elephant! With Ron’s hesitant assistance, Dexter manages to convince Kate to reconsider their relationship.
Cast
The principal cast features:
- 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 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
Additionally, the film includes cameo roles by John Inman, Melvyn Bragg, Suggs, Jonathan Ross, and director Mel Smith himself.
Production
Filming commenced during 1988. Nearly twenty years later, Mel Smith reflected on his directorial debut as the pinnacle of his career, remarking that his initial unfamiliarity with filmmaking made the entire experience feel "wonderfully easy."
Critical reception
When released in the United States in September 1990, Entertainment Weekly assigned it a B− grade, describing it as "mildly charming" while criticizing its heavy focus on both comedy and romance. The New York Times commended the film’s "wickedly endearing" characters and particularly highlighted performances by Goldblum and Thompson. Roger Ebert called it a "sweet, whimsical and surprisingly intelligent comedy," praising especially its satirical take on contemporary musicals during the final act. The Deseret News regarded the film as "uneven," though noting that the segments featuring Elephant! offered sharp comedic parodies of Andrew Lloyd Webber-style shows.
On review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, the movie holds an 86% approval rating based on 21 critiques, averaging 6.6/10. A 2003 retrospective published by The Guardian pointed out that although critics often treated the film condescendingly, audiences responded more favorably. The article identified several recurring elements from The Tall Guy that Richard Curtis later incorporated into hits such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, and Love Actually:
- sudden romantic encounters central to Curtis’s narratives;
- prioritizing humor over strict realism (for example, using cartwheels beneath a giant Moon to symbolize love);
- inclusion of an eccentric yet insightful flatmate character;
- uniquely quirky dialogue exemplified by Ron’s line: "What in the name of Judas Iscariot's bumboy is going on?"
Box office
The movie earned a total of $5 million globally, which includes £1.59 million from the United Kingdom and $510,712 from the United States and Canada.
Soundtrack
The musical score was created by Peter Brewis. The soundtrack incorporates Labi Siffre's "It Must Be Love," as performed by Madness, featuring a sequence with a cameo appearance by Madness lead singer Suggs. Additional prominent songs include "Let the Heartaches Begin" by Long John Baldry, "Heartbreak Hotel" by Sam Williams, as well as Phil Pope's renditions of "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" and "Crying in the Rain."
Home video
In 1990, the film was made available on VHS and Laserdisc through RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video. It also received a UK VHS release via Virgin Vision and was later issued on DVD in 2003 by Buena Vista Home Entertainment.