The Tall Man (2012)

What a waste of my time!!!

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

This film is about a legend that has been started by the town folk of Cold Rock. Since the children in the town have been going missing, people have said it's an entity known as 'The Tall Man' who has been taking them. Julia Denning is the local nurse whose husband died years earlier. She is soon personally involved as her child is taken. As much as i love Jessica Biel as an actress this movie did not do it for me to be honest. It was very slow paced and even despite a very good perfomance by her in general the movie was just all over the place in the end.

This is an absolute gem of a crime thriller. I was a little surprised at first when I watched it because the trailers made it out to seem like a horror movie but nevertheless it was really good. It didn't feel "done before" at all and kept you guessing as to what would happen next. Right in the middle you have this massive OMG didn't see that coming moment and it changes the whole overtone. Sure there were a couple of small flaws but what do you expect from a low budget movie. It didn't need expensive tricks and effects as it instead relied on a strong story and talented cast. Speaking of which, Jessica Biel is such an underrated actress as she does a fantastic job in this movie. She is incredibly believable in the role and really immerses herself in the character.So ignore all the haters on this one as it has so much to offer. By the end you will realise that this movie is so much more than its synopsis and I promise that you will really enjoy it.

Tall Man has come in for a fait of criticism from people expecting one thing and getting another. If you've seen (Director) Pascal Laugier's previous film 'Martyrs' then you may be a little more prepared for a film that deliberately leads you in one direction, only to almost switch genres midway through and go off in a totally different direction.Tall Man is about a woman (Jessica Biel) whose child goes missing in a town where this sort of kidnapping is commonplace and put down to the legend of the 'Tall Man' - a shadowy figure who steals children. From there, she has to unravel the mystery behind the kidnappings.Most people (including me) expected a straight horror film. What it turns out to be is more than that. Perhaps 'thriller' would describe it better. Everyone turns in a solid performance and, if you're in the mood for something a little different, with a few twists and turns, then you could do worse than this.Just know that this isn't simply your average 'horror.'

I can see why this title has such a bifurcation of bad reviews and good reviews. For one thing, if you're going by the description and you're looking for a straightforward film that meets your precise expectations for the evening, this not the film for you or anyone who likes surprises. This film takes you through multiple genres, but does it one at a time. First you think it is a horror film, and then you realize that it's a thriller, and then it gets intensely psychological, closes up with a social message, but then questions that very social message. The message at the end is sure to put off a lot of people, especially those who have children or believe in the sanctity of biological parents raising their own child regardless of the environment they raise them in. But though the film explains the motivation of Biel's character and the 'Tall Man' it also questions their motivations and casts their action in the light of doubt.The acting is intense, the twists are mind-boggling, and you'll finish the film with one of those uncomfortable feelings and questioning what you really believe in. For all of these reasons, this is a spectacular movie, which will NOT be everyone's cup of tea. But shallow sappy sympathy inducing tear jerker's like "The Fault in our Stars" or mindless action packed drivel like "Transformers 20: Something Something Darkness" have never been my style anyway, and controversial themes like this are much more to my taste.