Jeff Goldblum is Alive and Well

I don't know what to say about the passing of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett yesterday, except that it's very sad in all sorts of ways, and I feel terrible for their loved ones.  

I'm going to post instead about Jeff Goldblum who was the victim of a cruel hoax yesterday, when it was erroneously reported that he had died.  Who on earth does something like that? 

I'm going to honor Jeff Goldblum by sharing one of my all-time favorite movies, The Tall Guy.

Jeff Goldblum stars alongside Emma Thompson and Rowan Atkinson.

If you are anything like me, you aspire to be as much like Emma Thompson as humanly possible.  I would happily sit for hours watching her read the phone book. I'm sure it would be immensely charming and very funny.  She's the person that I think that I should really be best friends with, if she weren't a movie star and I weren't a suburban mom.  Emma, and Neil Patrick Harris, too.  Wouldn't the three of us have fun together?  I've talked about my affection for NPH before, but I don't think I've written about how he was almost my neighbor in 2001. I was living in Manhattan and he was going to sublet my neighbor's apartment during his run in Assassins on Broadway.  Then the horror of 9/11 happened, and the idea of a musical about famous assassins didn't seem so appealing, so the run was cancelled.

Anyway, sorry for the digression, back to The Tall Guy:

Jeff Goldblum plays American stage actor Dexter King, who is trying to make a living in London.  Unfortunately, he is stuck in a horrible comic review starring Ron Anderson, played by Rowan Atkinson. Dexter is "the Tall Guy" in Ron Anderson's one-man show, and the butt of all of the play's terrible jokes. Things start to look up when Dexter meets Emma Thompson's delightful Nurse Kate Lemmon and gets the lead in a musical version of the Elephant Man, called Elephant!

I don't want to give away anymore of the story, but I highly recommend that you track it down however you can.  To whet your appetite, here are two scenes from the musical within the film:

 

   

Another great thing about the Tall Guy is that it features a delightful song by Madness. This version has Hebrew titles for some reason, but I don't think they distract from the song or from Suggs, who could be friends with Emma, Neil and me, if he wanted.

Jeff, I'm glad you're still here!  

And Emma, Neil and Suggs, give us a ring when you're in town?

Comments

[Raina]

Kiwis flip their collective wig whenever even the most minor of celebrity visits New Zealand.

I knew his "death" was a hoax because there hadn't been any breathless evening news reports announcing his arrival recently.

[Alexis]

Next time when the gang ( Emma, Neil etc) pop by ,can I come over? You crack me up!Love, Oma.

[Tiffany]

Ah- Neil Patrick Harris! One of the all-time best Sesame Streets ever- Neil Patrick Harris as the Shoe Fairy! Boy is he awesome- and boy can he sing :)

[The Coffee Lady]

I find Emma Thompson very irritating indeed, sorry. Not Suggs, though. Never Suggs.

[The City Sage]

I was SO upset when I thought Jeff had died! And equally irritated by the hoax. But I have GOT to get my hands on this movie! And if you ever convince emma to do a recording of her reading the phonebook, I'll totally buy a copy!

[patty kreeger]

Alexis, The Tall Guy is also one of my most favoritest movies ever ever ever. It's in my Singing In The Rain/Empire Strikes Back category. I periodically torment everyone around me with my renditions of the music numbers.