The Tall Man wants you to think it's a scary movie about a Freddy Krueger-like serial murderer who's kidnapping (and seemingly killing) the children of a run-down, nearly dead blue collar town. But at its core, The Tall Man isn't a horror film; it's a drama, and a particularly icky one at that.
Unfortunately, a great many of the film’s problems hinge on three or fours twists that come more than midway through the film. Alas, in an effort to keep you spoiler-free I'll try and remain as unspecific as possible, while still outlining the film's issues, and its strengths.
The Tall Man starts out with a young nurse, Julia Denning (Jessica Biel, giving one of her better dramatic performances), delivering a young child to a mother worried her newborn will be abducted. We learn that the town has fallen victim to a mysterious serial kidnapper who's stealing the children in the middle of the night. But when Julia's child goes missing, she quickly learns that far more is going on in the town than meets the eye.
Despite a somewhat formulaic approach to the narrative, and paper-thin cliches filling in for real characters, The Tall Man does succeed in bypassing some of the usual twists and turns we've long come to expect from films like this. Sadly, though, it comes at a great cost. The final act completely derails into morally questionable territory. And while this is, of course, part of writer/director Pascal Laugier's overarching message, the film drags the audience through a dark, viciously cynical and mean-spirited twist in order to get there.
Playing about as morally misguided as the wretched 2010 thriller Case 39, which, incidentally, also co-starred Jodelle Ferland (who plays a mute child here), The Tall Man leaves a sour taste, and offers very little repeat value after its initial viewing.
But, with a narrative that cleverly spins in a dozen different directions, even the most hardened genre fans might find themselves delightfully confused as to where the film will go, and that's part of the picture's strength. Despite a rotten finale, the film is thoroughly engaging, rarely letting up, and constantly twisting and turning the narrative in inventive ways. It's quite unfortunate that the film reaches such a vile, convoluted, crass finale. The film's stunning cinematography, Jessica Biel's sharp performance, and the fascinating and sometimes refreshing narrative are wasted on an idea that simply won't sit well with most audiences, especially parents.
It's no wonder The Tall Man didn't see a major big screen release, despite the popularity of Jessica Biel. With a final twist that tastes of lemon, The Tall Man is a great film that slowly boils down to a downright terrible one. In fact, do yourself a favor and turn the film off at the end of the second act. You won't regret it.
The Tall Man comes to Blu-ray courtesy of Image Entertainment. The film is presented in 2.40:1, encoded in 1080p/VC-1. Audio is mixed in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. No DVD copy or Digital Copy of the film are provided.
While sharp at times, the transfer seems to favor a soft, muted visual aesthetic with pasty flesh tones, high contrast and a faded blue/gray palette. Depth and textures feel a bit crushed at times, and there's a modest bit of motion blur throughout the transfer as well. The encode also sports a hint of compression and slight banding. While not completely awful, The Tall Man simply doesn't impress as much as it probably could have considering the glossy HD photography.
The film boasts a somewhat overly aggressive 5.1 mix, with a few very minor center crackles every now and then. Surrounds often feel inorganic, too, overbearing small scale scenes with wonky surround cues that dominate over the dialogue. While the mix can up the ante at times when it comes to jump scares and minor jolts, it also could have used some additional tweaking to make it feel more naturally organic and atmospheric.
Extras are virtually nonexistent. They consist of a deleted scene, a trailer and a visual concepts art gallery. It's all worth a once-over, but don't expect to revisit these features each time you watch the film. The disc also includes a promo for another upcoming Image Entertainment title.
Despite a gripping narrative and plenty of twists and turns, The Tall Man completely derails in its convoluted and enormously cynical, morally offensive final act. The film might be worth a rental, but it harbors little replay value.
Source : ign[dot]com
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