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Parents' Guide to

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger

By S. Jhoanna Robledo, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Woody Allen revisits familiar themes in mature comedy.

Movie R 2010 98 minutes
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 15+

Based on 3 parent reviews

colten97
colten97 Parent of 13-year-old
October 11, 2012
age 13+

Fun charming movie

Excellent, charming movie that tracks the ups and downs of middle aged and older couples. It is not going for huge explosions or plot twists, so if that is what you like, this isn't for you. But i found it resonated emotionally and is also quite funny. a recurring theme is the stories we tell ourselves to let us go forward, through several examples. all in all: i say, ignore the jaded critics and go see it. highly recommended. Also - in my opinion - requiring ten lines of text to rate a movie is crazy. i won't rate anymore, but felt strongly enough about this one that i wanted to add a dissenting voice and a dissenting vote. this addendum gets me to the required 10 lines.

This title has:

Too much swearing
boredomhurts1
boredomhurts1 Adult
February 23, 2011
age 16+
Looks like a pretty good movie. I might not pay for it though, i will just get it of this cool website. rewards1.com/1799913

This title has:

Too much sex
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Londoner Helena (Gemma Jones) is beside herself: Her husband, Alfie (Anthony Hopkins), has undergone a late-life crisis and left her, devoting himself to a physical makeover and his new, much younger, wife, Charmaine (Lucy Punch). But for Helena, the wisdom of her fortune-teller (Pauline Collins) is what makes sense. Meanwhile, their daughter, Sally (Naomi Watts), is distracted by her new boss (Antonio Banderas) and can no longer hide her deep disappointment with her husband, Roy (Josh Brolin), an almost-doctor who had a semi-successful first novel but has been unable to conjure a decent follow-up. He worries that the most recent book he submitted won't make the cut and is distracted by the pretty musicologist (Freida Pinto) whom he glimpses from his bedroom window.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3 ):
Kids say (1 ):

In many ways, YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER finds filmmaker Woody Allen in fine form. The dialogue is strong, the editing is crisp, the pacing natural. And the acting's superb (especially the believably unraveling Watts). Still, what's missing here -- and what's been missing in Allen's recent work, except for the delightful Vicky Cristina Barcelona -- is a sense that it's trying to lure you into a conversation, one you preferably haven't had numerous times.

Ultimately, for all its wonderful qualities, You Will Meet a Talk Dark Stranger feels just like that: a Woody Allen retread, like something out of his good old New York days but with a British accent and laced with annoyance at a world mired in the same questions ... and offering no new answers. The staving off of death by making foolish choices, the impatience with a life less luxe, the ambivalence over commitment -- they're all here. Perhaps it's true that life isn't all that different, no matter what time period we live in -- the Hannah and Her Sisters 1980s or the Tall Dark Stranger 2010s -- or what complexities arise. Why bother then?

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about what the movie is saying about marriage. Do the relationships in the movie seem realistic? What happens when they don't work out?

  • How does this movie compare to Allen's other films?

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