Another one, really?
REVIEWED BY Ashwini Vethakan
When Netflix released that fun video early in Janu-ary promising us a new movie every month, we were ecstatic. The actors who were listed alone blew our minds and we couldn’t wait to see what was com-ing our way.
But you have to wonder how on earth some mo-vies were able to manage a renewed season or se-cond instalment.
Tall Girl is that kind of movie.
The first instalment alone was ‘meh’– for want of a better word in English. It told a cutesy story of a girl who is six feet tall, and is constantly insulted and bullied about her height. We’re not too sure why since many people in the West tend to be on the taller side.
Things take a turn when a Scandinavian exchange student named Stig enters the classroom. So at last, Jodi isn’t the tallest person in school and is able to ‘look up’ to a boy.
However, Stig is a rather flaky young lad who uses his Ken-like good looks and height to gain the title of prom king and become the most popular boy in school during his brief student exchange stint.
He uses Jodi’s crush but pretends not to like her. Worse still, he stands her up at a party and is caught on video gloating over breaking her heart. But the incident with Stig is a weird catalyst for Jodi, which prompts her to discover her self-worth and true love in the form of a shorter than normal best guy friend Dunkleman.
This is where Jodi’s story runs into part two. Again, why it did, we’re not sure. The first part was average at best, and the second had us questioning the bigwigs at Netflix and their poor taste when it comes to movies.
Jodi and Dunkleman navigate their new relationship, while Stig tries his best to apologise and make up with Jodi. Since the foreign kid is left randomly on screen, the writers decide to give him a new love interest in the form of Fareeda – Jodi’s best friend.
This time around, we see Jodi finally putting herself out there and trying to be a part of her school society. She gets the lead in a school play and is all but living her dream.
Unlike the stereotypical mean girl we watched in the first movie, the second version has Jodi battling the fiercest villain.
Yet, her own subconscious mind tells her she’s not good enough. And viewers are treated to a shoddy attempt by her parents to calm her down during a panic attack. Those who got through this episode must have rolled their eyes.
Meanwhile, Dunkleman thinks Jodi isn’t balancing her lead role in the play and their three month long relationship properly so he decides to end their relationship. This may well teach young vie-wers just how horrible it is to gaslight someone in a relationship.
Jodi kisses another random character who seems to be part of the lead ensemble… but isn’t. There are a few dance scenes and musical performances by Jodi – who does have a great voice; and the movie comes to an uneventful end with Jodi fixing her relationship with Dunkleman while fighting her own negative voice.
We were rather disappointed that this was the first movie in the 2022 lineup and fear what it could mean for the rest of the flicks scheduled for the year. But we’re hoping that this was simply one bad choice… and that Netflix has better movies in store for its viewers.