It was written and directed by Pascal Laugier, and is rated 'R' for violence, and language, although I would consider it more like a 'PG-13' than an 'R'.
*spoiler alert* The story takes place in Cold Rock, Washington, a former mining town that now seems to be little more than a diner, a small police force, decrepit buildings and its impoverished residents. We meet Julia (Biel), our protagonist, the town nurse; she is a widow and her husband was the town doctor. Julia has a son named David, who stays with a nanny at their house outside of town while Julia works. Julia tries to assist the local residents as best she can with limited resources, and some of the townsfolk's inescapable situations - like women refusing to leave their abusive, alcoholic men. Julia also notices the children are the ones who seem to be suffering the most.
We also learn that several of the local children have gone missing and are presumed dead at the hands of a local legend called the "Tall Man". So, after a long day, Julia falls asleep, but is awakened to a strange noise, and discovers David has been taken.
She pursues the kidnapper, that we assume is the Tall Man - and that is when the film takes a very strange turn. After finally catching up to this person at an abandoned factory, a disheveled looking woman assaults Julia and claims to be David's birth mother, stating that David was, in fact, kidnapped by Julia. After escaping their "crazy" captor, Julia and David go back to her house, where she takes him down the basement and he is not seen after this, until much later.
Meanwhile a teenage girl named Jenny (Jodelle Ferland) has been witness to much of what has been going on in the periphery (including some of this most recent incident with David) and asks Julia if the Tall Man could take her, too.
Julia is soon arrested (for what we assume was related to David's kidnapping) and shortly after that Jenny is taken by the Tall Man, who we learn is actually Julia's (thought to be dead) husband. They are part of an organization that "rescues" children from bad situations like extreme poverty and abuse, then places them with well-to-do families.
What is left, is the aftermath.
What was good: The film was beautifully shot. Cold Rock looked and felt like a dirty, rundown hole. The characters were all acted very well, everyone just seemed to fit into his or her role. Very good supporting roles were done by William B Davis, Stephen McHattie, and Ferland.
The director did a good job to use rich colors minimally, except at the end when we see Jenny and David with their new families. Lots of gray tones, night shots, shadows, and cloudy day time shots were used perfectly.
I really liked the concept of the movie, and even the moral questions that are brought up - were they really helping these kids to escape to a better life.
What went wrong: The film starts off like a horror film (a dark figure that kidnaps kids), but ends like a families-in-crisis drama. The concept and the story were both very workable, but the execution just came off horribly hodge-podge, almost like two different films crashed together. This is especially highlighted by Julia's dialogue and tears seen after she has been arrested. I am not sure if we are to think she is upset about being caught, or if she is questioning her decision to be taking children at all.
The final sequences shows us Jenny in her "new life", living an upper middle class lifestyle and her talent at art being encouraged by a new mother. However, Jenny sees David with his new family while she is out walking one afternoon, and there seems to be an ambiguous moment they share while looking at each other. Jenny questions where her life is now in a voice-over, and is everything really better than it was for not just her, but all the kids who have been moved. She does accept that in her case she specifically asked to be taken away by the Tall Man.
I did not feel there was a good tie off as to Julia's fate, other than going to prison, or the fate of her husband.
Recommendation: If you like the idea of feeling a little frustrated at a movie's ambiguity, then The Tall Man is one to see. Biel was not spectacular in her role, but she was also not out of place. The visuals and environment were enough to keep me watching, but I think the director/ producer's decision to make us question the bigger issue of whether removing kids from a cycle of poverty and abuse was "the right thing to do" did not unfold in an engaging manner.
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