Tall Girl
After the substantial online fallout of director Nzingha Stewart's film Tall Girl once it’s first trailer released online to a fury of criticism, it would seem that the final product would be sure-fire for utter and total condemnation. The end product does skate around an incredibly tone-deaf theme, considering the current state of the US school system. In fact, the film takes a slightly sweet and tender approach to the hassle a teenage girl has to face in this spiteful and nasty society that is ever so prevalent today.
The statement above is the most seemingly apparent notion critics alike are forgetting; while the main pull of the film is incredibly silly, the themes and the weight of the picture are poignantly appropriate to discuss. Tall Girl’s themes are just moulded in the form of ridiculousness, of which NETFLIX has never shied away from highlighting. Does it slightly overcrowd and drown the topic at hand that director Stewart and writer Sam Wolfson want to examine? Most definitely. However, it does not utterly control and dictate the tone of the film.
Aside from that, there is quite a lot to recognise or, dare say, like in this over-the-top romcom. Ava Michelle as the titular character Jodi Kreyman is great, showcasing a decent range of ability: mostly that of emotional poignancy or a slight injection of humour when needed. Michelle has terrific charisma and charm, and the pull of the plight of her character is far more engaging with her talent at hand.
Sabrina Carpenter as sister Harper Kreyman provides a decent layer of comedy injected in a somewhat limited role for the actress. The character has an arc prime for exploration concerning body issues but is ultimately put to one side to regurgitate more jokes about height. Steve Zahn as the pairs father Richie Kreyman is primarily the positive and negative result of the comedic prowess; he has one or two scenes where he convicts in emotional skill that lead to great small intimate moments, but for the majority throughout he is optimised as the primary instigator for the sub-par humour.
As with every other NETFLIX feature, the cinematography and colour grading look appalling. Each and every scene looks cheap and artificial with the image as a whole flat and dull. Not particularly damning elements but undoubtedly factors that increasingly get more tiring on the eyes. That being said, Tall Girl is in no way as problematic and torturous as it is being reported to be — if anything, the fact that a woman of colour is in the director's chair should be a moment for celebration but is sadly lost in this era of problematic damnation.
Tall Girl is released exclusively on NETFLIX September 13, 2019.
