Jackson Oz is a young renegade American zoologist who spends his days running safaris in the wilds of Africa with his best friend Abraham, who has a deep understanding of wildlife. Shortly after the attacks begin, Oz begins to see a link between the strange animal attacks and his late father's controversial theories about impending threats to the human race. In Los Angeles, news reporter Jamie Campbell is intent on being the first to break the story behind the mysterious animal behavior, and seeks the expertise of Mitch Morgan, an off-kilter veterinarian, who prefers the company of animals over people. Nora Arnezeder stars as Chloe Tousignant, a French investigator Oz meets in Africa. As the assaults occurring worldwide become more cunning, coordinated and ferocious, Oz and the others are thrust into the race to unlock the mystery of the pandemic before there's no place left for people to hide.
The first feature to be directed by comedian Mel Smith, The Tall Guy 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 The Elephant Man (entitled Elephant!)--only to have his leading lady make a play for him. The Tall Guy, 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, Killing Me Softly.) 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. On the DVD: The Tall Guy offers no extras except the theatrical trailer. The transfer is full-width, and both sound and visual come up cleanly. --Philip Kemp
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