The Tall Guy (1989)

Dexter King plays straight man to unpleasant comedian Ron Anderson. He falls in love with Kate, a pretty nurse he meets when he is receiving injections for hay fever. When Anderson fires ... See full summary »

Director:

Mel Smith

Writer:

Richard Curtis

Stars:

Jeff Goldblum, Rowan Atkinson, Emma Thompson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeff Goldblum	...	Dexter King
Emma Thompson	...	Kate
Rowan Atkinson	...	Ron Anderson
Geraldine James	...	Carmen
Emil Wolk	...	Charlie
Kim Thomson	...	Cheryl
Harold Innocent	...	Timothy
Anna Massey	...	Mary
Joanna Kanska	...	Tamara
Peter Kelly	...	Gavin
Tim Barlow	...	Mr. Morrow (as Timothy Barlow)
Hugh Thomas	...	Dr. Karabekian
Charles Augins	...	Choreographer
Peter Brewis	...	Freddy
Joolia Cappleman	...	Costume Designer

Storyline

Dexter King plays straight man to unpleasant comedian Ron Anderson. He falls in love with Kate, a pretty nurse he meets when he is receiving injections for hay fever. When Anderson fires him, he acquires the title role in a musical stage version of "The Elephant Man". Kate dumps him when she suspects he is having an affair with a fellow cast member, and he must win her back.

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Plot Keywords:

injection | hay fever | elephant | elephant man | love | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 September 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

2 metri di allergia

Filming Locations:

2 Roman Way, Islington, London, England, UK

Box Office

Gross USA:

$510,712

Company Credits

Production Co:

London Weekend Television (LWT),Virgin Vision,Working Title Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Suggs: Former lead singer of Madness, makes a cameo as their song "It Must Be Love" plays on the soundtrack.

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Goofs

In a shower scene late in the movie the camera moves to a high vantage point, showing the shorts that Dexter is wearing.

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Quotes

Ron Anderson: [as he is being tied up by Dexter] What the hell is going on?
Dexter: I'll tell you what's going on - first you waste four years of my life! And then you take the only thing I ever really cared about!
Ron Anderson: Your bicycle?

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Crazy Credits

Michael Fitzgerald's full credit in the movie is "Man with vacuum cleaner tube up his bottom."

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Connections

Referenced in 100 Greatest Sexy Moments (2003)

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Soundtracks

Let The Heartaches Begin
Written by Tony Macaulay & John MacLeod
Performed by Long John Baldry
By Courtesy of BMG Music Publishing Ltd.
Licensed from Precision Records & Tapes Ltd.

User Reviews

Great fun

Take an obligatory American - Jeff Goldblum - a gorgeous nurse (Emma Thompson), a script by Richard Curtis, long before going on to pen Four Weddings and a Notting Hill; get Mel Smith to direct and rubber-faced Rowan Atkinson to play the villain of the piece. The result is The Tall Guy, probably the greatest comedy of 1989.

I remember going to see it twice at the time and laughing all the way through it, amazed that British comedies could be this good.

It has a huge amount going for it with intelligence, cracking lines and some highly stylised photography by Adrian Biddle.

Curtis' semi-autobiographical script is based on his own days as a fall guy for Atkinson and the result is well worth a look.