Tall Girl is a romantic-comedy drama centered around a girl named Jodi who happens to be 73 inches. Now, I know what most of you are thinking, “She’s tall, so what?” which is what I was thinking as well but then I saw this heart-string pulling film. Jodi is bullied all her life for how tall she is, as well as being looked at differently by her own father.
The film starts off introducing us to the people in Jodi’s life: Her older sister Harper Kreyman, a beauty pageant veteran played by the beautiful Sabrina Carpenter, her best friend Jack Dunkelman, who is crazily in love with Jodi but is not given a chance as Jodi labels him “too short to date” and lastly her best friend Fraeeda, who sticks up for Jodi no matter what. We also have Angela Kinsey, known for her role as Angela from The Office, in the film playing Jodi and Harper’s mom.
The story kicks into high gear when a new exchange student from Sweden, Stig, moves to town and Jodi sets her sights on him because he is the same height as her. She quickly learns that while she has set her sights on him, so has the entire school, including residential mean girl Kimmy. Much to Dunkelman’s dismay, his mother agrees to have Stig stay with them for the rest of the year. This sets in motion a wonderful chain of events of Jodi coming to terms with who she is and embracing it. After more torment from her peers and officially deciding she wants to catch Stig’s attention, Jodi undergoes a makeover from her older sister Harper, which at first has its hiccups but works out for the better.
The film is reminiscent of an older Disney Channel original with a clear message of you have to love yourself first or no one else will. Throughout the film, I was pleasantly surprised with how many times I actually laughed out loud. As Jodi and Kimmy’s interactions proved to be among my favorites, seeing Dunkelman fight for his best friend's affection was a good component to the story as well. The characters may not be as developed in other Netflix originals, but the plot is clear and the story comes across well through the screen.
Another part of the film I enjoyed was how Jodi and her father’s relationship developed as he tried so hard to help Jodi fit in but in reality he is actually making her more and more uncomfortable with his actions. It's a cute addition to an already entertaining story that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this entire film. The ending really brought the film together as a true romantic comedy with “the crate," you’ll have to watch to understand. Although there are clear hiccups in the film, they aren't too bad to classify the film as bad or not enjoyable. I did not expect to enjoy the film as much as I did, especially considering I never thought tall people got made fun of as much as depicted in the film; We all have our own story and this was Jodi’s. After getting rid of my own preconceived notions, I realized this was a really great film with a message everyone should stick to; Love yourself no matter what, stand tall and be true to you.
Echo Grade: B+
