Standing Tall

Standing Tall follows Malony from the age of six to eighteen as he moves repeatedly through the French juvenile justice system. Brought before a children's judge after behavioural problems, school refusal and a family life his mother cannot manage, he returns as a teenager after stealing a car. Around him, a committed judge named Florence and a caseworker, Yann, keep trying to keep him on course, even as his own impulses pull him back toward trouble.

The film is directed by Emmanuelle Bercot, who wrote the screenplay with Marcia Romano; it is her fifth feature, arriving between The Players and Peaceful. Rod Paradot plays Malony, with Catherine Deneuve as the judge, Sara Forestier as his mother, Benoît Magimel as Yann, Diane Rouxel as Tess and Élizabeth Mazev as Claudine.

Made for about five million dollars, the film drew modest audiences relative to its budget scale. Its ratings are respectable rather than ecstatic: 6.9 out of 10 on IMDb from around 4,100 votes, 7.2 out of 10 on TMDB from 494 votes, and 6.5 out of 10 from 37 reviews. Audiences rate it slightly higher than critics do, and the vote counts on IMDb are far larger than on TMDB, suggesting a wider English-language viewership.