Tall Girl

Tall Girl
Official poster
Directed by	Nzingha Stewart
Written by	Sam Wolfson
Produced by	McG Mary Viola Corey Marsh
Starring	Ava Michelle Griffin Gluck Sabrina Carpenter Paris Berelc Luke Eisner Clara Wilsey Anjelika Washington Rico Paris Angela Kinsey Steve Zahn
Cinematography	Eric Edwards
Edited by	Priscilla Nedd Friendly
Music by	Mateo Messina
Production company	Wonderland Sound and Vision
Distributed by	Netflix
Release date	September 13, 2019 (2019-09-13) (United States)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$13.6 million

Tall Girl is a 2019 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Nzingha Stewart, from a screenplay by Sam Wolfson. The film stars Ava Michelle, Griffin Gluck, Sabrina Carpenter, Paris Berelc, Luke Eisner, Clara Wilsey, Anjelika Washington, Rico Paris, Angela Kinsey, and Steve Zahn. It was released by Netflix on September 13, 2019.

Plot

Jodi Kreyman is 16 and 6 ft 1+1⁄2 in (1.87 m) tall. She has been tall for her age since she was three, which has made her insecure her whole life. Students continually ask Jodi "how's the weather up there?". In contrast, Jodi's older sister Harper is of average height and a multiple beauty pageant winner. Dunkleman, a life-long friend, frequently asks her out, but she is reluctant, partly because he's much shorter than she.

Stig Mohlin, a Swedish foreign exchange student, joins Jodi's class, and she is immediately interested, along with most girls in her school. However, Kimmy Stitcher, her bully, starts showing him around. Dunkleman is distressed to learn that Stig will be staying at his house, as the host family. Jodi asks Harper for help getting Stig to notice her. Harper and their mother help her with a complete makeover.

Kimmy and Schnipper prank call Jodi, pretending to be Stig and asking her to homecoming. To Fareeda's frustration, Jodi hides in the bathroom to avoid Kimmy. Stumbling across Stig playing the piano, he encourages her to play and they sing the duet "I've Never Been in Love Before" from the musical Guys and Dolls.

At home, Jodi finds her father has organised a Tip Toppers (tall people club) chapter meeting in their house, which she finds upsetting. Stig calls and at first, thinking it is another prank call, she yells at him, but he invites her to watch a musical. She turns up to Dunkleman's house and he becomes jealous when he realizes she is there to see Stig. He continually interrupts their evening, but as Stig escorts Jodi home, they kiss. Later, feeling guilty, Stig asks Dunkleman for advice and he tells him to focus on being with Kimmy. Jodi gets angry at Dunkleman when she learns this.

Meanwhile, another girl—Liz—asks Dunkleman on a date. Schnipper now is interested in Jodi, so he gets Kimmy to ask her to join them for an escape room; Jodi ditches a concert with Fareeda to go. In the escape room, they kiss in couples: Jodi and Schnipper, Kimmy and Stig and Dunkleman and Liz, until Jodi gets frustrated and leaves. Jealous, Stig talks to Jodi and agrees to go on a date to Harper's pageant competition. Harper wins, but Stig does not turn up. At Dunkleman's party, Stig explains that he lost track of time helping Dunkleman set up.

Dunkleman rejects Liz when she asks him to the homecoming dance. He gives Jodi platform heels to apologize for being a bad friend. Jodi is sent a video from after she left the party, Stig pretended that Jodi had unrequited love for him. Standing up for Jodi, Dunkleman first called him out, then he had a fistfight with Schnipper.

At the homecoming dance, Kimmy and Stig are crowned Homecoming Queen and King, but he breaks up with her. Jodi arrives in the high heels Dunkleman gave her and makes a speech expressing newfound confidence in herself. Stig asks Jodi out but she rejects him. She talks to Dunkleman: he reveals the reason he always carries a milk crate. He stands on it and leans in to kiss her.

Cast

• Ava Michelle as Jodi Kreyman, a very tall, self-conscious 16-year-old
• Griffin Gluck as Jack Dunkleman, Jodi's lifelong friend.
• Luke Eisner as Stig Mohlin, a Swedish exchange student
• Clara Wilsey as Kimmy Stitcher, Jodi's bully
• Sabrina Carpenter as Harper Kreyman, Jodi's older sister
• Paris Berelc as Liz, a friend of Kimmy's
• Rico Paris as Schnipper, who has also tormented Jodi for years
• Anjelika Washington as Fareeda, Jodi's best friend.
• Angela Kinsey as Helaine Kreyman, Harper and Jodi's mother
• Steve Zahn as Richie Kreyman, Harper and Jodi's father
• Milena Rivero as 10 year old Kimmy Stitcher
• Bria Condon as Crystal Spitz
• Shane Guilbeau as Bob Brickman
• Christina Moses as Nina Dunkleman, Jack's mother.
• Andrew Brodeur as Will
• Jason Rogel as Dr. Sager
• Gralen Bryant Banks as Principal O'Sullivan
• Kelly Murtagh as Ms. Novey
• Chima Chekwa as Maison Voodoo Presenter
• Kerry Cahill as Gina, a Tip Toppers member.

Production

In November 2018, it was announced that Netflix would collaborate with McG of Wonderland Sound and Vision for a fourth time on the film Tall Girl, with Nzingha Stewart set as the director. In January 2019, Ava Michelle, Griffin Gluck, Luke Eisner, Sabrina Carpenter, Paris Berelc, Steve Zahn, Angela Kinsey, Anjelika Washington, Clara Wilsey, and Rico Paris joined the cast of the film.

Principal photography on the film began in January 2019 in New Orleans and ended in March 2019.

Release

The film released on September 13, 2019. On October 17, 2019, Netflix announced that the film had been viewed by over 41 million viewers after its release on their platform.

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 44% based on 9 reviews, and an average rating of 5.4/10. The sites critics consensus reads, "While charming at times, Tall Girl is mostly an uninspired teen comedy that fails to bring anything new to the genre."

Sequel

On December 1, 2020, Netflix set Wolfson to write Tall Girl 2 and Michelle is set to return as Jodi.

See also

• Heightism

External links

• Tall Girl at IMDb
• Tall Girl at Rotten Tomatoes
• Tall Girl on Netflix