Review: Tall Girl 2

Pointless, plotless, and full of infuriating characters, yet somehow deemed worthy of a sequel. The first Tall Girl was one hour and forty-two minutes of pure drivel, but I still sat through the second instalment. I do not know what exactly I was hoping for when I curled up on the sofa under a blanket and pressed play on Tall Girl 2, but I will do my best to put my many, many thoughts into words.

Extremely confusing and mildly irritating

The film begins with an extremely confusing and mildly irritating recap of Tall Girl from the two main characters, Jodi (Ava Michelle) and Dunk (Griffin Gluck). Whoever directed the film and wrote the script clearly wanted it to seem like some kind of fourth-wall-breaking moment during which the characters address the audience, but in a shocking twist (note my sarcasm), it is revealed that Jodi and Dunk are actually talking to a backpack salesman. This happened in just the first few minutes of the film, and already got under my skin.

Tall Girl 2’s plot focuses on Jodi’s journey from shy and insecure to confident and self-assured, and this journey comes in the form of her snagging the lead role in the school musical, Bye Bye Birdie. However, her tallness immediately acts as a barrier to any form of success, and she kicks someone in the face during rehearsal, because, obviously, anyone over the height of six feet cannot control their body. Her arch-nemesis and resident school mean girl, Kimmy (Clara Wilsey), gets cast as Jodi’s understudy, and when the casting director is interrogated about this questionable choice, it is revealed that apparently Jodi has the kind of ‘raw talent’ that is so desperately needed for the lead role – note that in her audition, Jodi actually told everyone that sometimes being tall feels like it is worse than being homeless or terminally ill. Naturally, Kimmy will stop at nothing to prevent Jodi from stepping up on that stage, and their rivalry acts as one of the many major plot points that later falls apart for no reason.

Made my eyes roll so far back into my head I thought I was going to pass out

An attempt at providing some sort of mental health representation is made – albeit a very poor one – in the form of a distorted voice in Jodi’s head that now occurs because she is popular and has accepted the fact that she is a little bit taller than everyone else. This voice is probably meant to symbolise insecurity and anxiety, but it ends up being yet another part of the film that made my eyes roll so far back into my head I thought I was going to pass out. A vaguely heartwarming moment occurs because of this ‘voice’ near the end of the film, when Kimmy confesses that she, too, has anxiety attacks (Kimmy’s entire character falls to pieces and she suddenly becomes nice when she fishes Jodi’s high heels out of a bonfire the night before the play – you will have to just watch the film if you want to understand the context of that). In my opinion, the real villain of Tall Girl 2 is Jodi, who ditches her adorable boyfriend in the middle of a home-cooked anniversary dinner to run lines for the musical, and just constantly acts like a terrible person.

There are several redeeming features, one of which is Dunk’s fashion sense. He manages to look cool in every single scene, and quite frankly, I have no idea why his standards are so low that he has been chasing Jodi around his whole life. The other redeeming character is Fareeda (Anjelika Washington), who, again, has no business hanging around with someone like Jodi. Dunk and Fareeda deserve better, but it feels like Jodi has everyone in her life under some kind of spell.

Verdict:

Although I cringed every five seconds and remember little to nothing about the actual substance of the plot, Tall Girl 2 was still a thoroughly enjoyable watch, even if that enjoyment came from making fun of every single thing every character said. I dread to think that there will most likely be a third instalment of the franchise, but I will absolutely watch it if and when that day ever comes.