I've been waiting for this film for so long, and it absolutely did not disappoint. Tall Girl 2 is every bit as good as the first.
One of the things I was wondering when they announced a sequel is how they were going to advance the plot. At the end of the first movie, Jodi had already learned to embrace her tallness, so it didn't seem like there was anywhere left for the plot to go. However, they did a really good job adding onto the original plot. People criticized the first film a lot, because they felt Jodi was acting like she was "oppressed" when there are so many bigger problems in the world, such as racism, gender inequality, poverty, and so many more. I thought it was really interesting how they addressed this criticism of the first film by having the people doing auditions point out to Jodi that so many people go through so much worse than being made fun of for being a tall girl. Jodi's response was really good, and encapsulates why I enjoyed the first movie: it's not that she's whining about being tall, it's more about the personal anxiety she deals with because she feels like others are judging her. That is very relatable, and also illustrates the dimension of gender inequality that plays into tallness. Men are praised for being tall, and it gives them extra privilege of being highly sought after for sports teams, and seen as more manly. Short men are often made fun of or infantilized. The opposite is true for women: short girls are seen as cute and adorable for being so small, while tall girls are seen as weird and unnatural. That's why Jodi dates Dunkleman: because the film is telling us a story of a tall girl and a short boy, and how society ostracizes them. That's not to say that there aren't worse problems, but the film is trying to demonstrate the anxiety that comes from feeling like you need to live up to societal stereotypes. It's not something that was elaborated on a lot in the first film, which is what I think caused the criticism, so I'm really happy that they meaningfully addressed it in this film instead of just acting like no one was criticizing it.
The way Jodi's anxiety was represented was really interesting. At first, it was a tad offputting to actually hear Jodi's anxiety speaking, as it felt like she was hearing voices in her head. However, as the film went on, I grew to like how we could hear Jodi's anxiety. It made it seem more realistic, in the sense that anxiety is often a nagging voice in your head that's always telling you that you're never good enough. I struggle with anxiety myself, so I can relate. Although it was played off as a joke, I liked Kimmy's comment when Jodi acts like Kimmy will think she's crazy for having anxiety: "I'm a 17 year old actress, you think I don't deal with anxiety?" (that's probably not the exact quote, but it was close to it) To me, it felt like a good acknowledgement that society is increasingly realizing that many people deal with anxiety. In the past, people who had anxiety were thought of as "crazy," but we as a a society are slowly shifting towards the realization that many people deal with some level of anxiety or depression. Even though it was kinda jokey, it felt like a necessary comment to include a film about anxiety.
Sabrina as Harper was absolutely adorable. Her thinking that her new job's salary was $401,000 (when she's actually just getting a 401k) was so cute! Her one comment "It's just a fact of life we have to deal with. You know, like Maroon 5." was savage hahahaha. It's arguably one of my favorite roles Sabrina has ever been in, because she gets into Harper's quirky persona and deadpan humor so well. I also have a soft spot for the parents, particularly the father. He perfectly portrays the role of the dad who's trying to be "hip" but just comes off as old and like a dork. I enjoy the mom as well, particularly her "you're moving to Louisiana?" when Harper tells her she's going to LA. I can't say I cared for the "I'm very fertile" comment. That was a bit too far lol.
I enjoyed the plot of Jodi being in a play. It felt like a perfect setting to match the plot being about Jodi's anxiety, and it felt like a natural extension to the first movie. What didn't feel natural is that suddenly Jodi has gone from no one knowing her to literally everyone high-fiving her when walking through the hall. Yes, Jodi's homecoming speech at the end of the first movie was great, but it seemed a bit too much to have suddenly everyone pay attention to her constantly, when no one really paid attention to her at all in the first film. That was my only real criticism of the film. However, I will say that "pre-party" before the play was RIDICULOUS. I could see students having a small party in order to hype them up for a play, but these kids were having a full-on RAGER on a cruise ship before their play. Who at the school was funding this? How did they think it was okay to leave these minors unsupervised? It didn't significantly bother me, but there's no way any of that would ever happen in real life lol.
I was also very interested to see how they would handle Dunkleman and Jodi's relationship. I liked how they made it a plot point about them trying to figure out their relationship, and dealing with their first fight. It was a good supplemental plot that also aided the main plot of Jodi dealing with her anxiety.
The Kimmy redemption arc was really neat. I kind of got Ryan-Sharpay vibes when Schnipper was talking about how Kimmy was mean and that he wasn't sure he wanted to be a part of it. It was a super cute little plot point, even if it didn't amount to much, and I'm glad it was in there.
Overall, this film was every bit as good as I wanted it to be, and lived up to the first film. I would highly recommend this film to everyone, and if they ever made Tall Girl 3 I would definitely watch it!
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