Tadpole
2002
Fifteen-year-old Prep student Oscar Grubman (Aaron Stanford) feels that girls his own age haven't lived enough, which is why he's coming home to Manhattan's Upper East Side for Thanksgiving to profess his love to his stepmother, Eve (Sigourney Weaver)--whose marriage to his professor father (John Ritter) has become routine and .. Read more
| Starring | Aaron Stanford, Sigourney Weaver, John Ritter, Bebe Neuwirth |
|---|---|
| Director | Gary Winick |
| Genres | Comedy, Gay/Lesbian |
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Tadpole
Fifteen-year-old Prep student Oscar Grubman (Aaron Stanford) feels that girls his own age haven't lived enough, which is why he's coming home to Manhattan's Upper East Side for Thanksgiving to profess his love to his stepmother, Eve (Sigourney Weaver)--whose marriage to his professor father (John Ritter) has become routine and uninspiring. Unable to find the right moment to express himself, Oscar slips out to a bar after dinner and finds himself drunk and missing his wallet. Walking home, he bumps into Eve's best friend, Diane (Bebe Neuwirth), a sexy chiropractor who offers to take him home to detox. A backrub leads to a kiss, which results in Oscar and Diane spending the night together. Oscar, feeling he has betrayed his true love, must now prevent Diane--who laughs at the whole situation--from telling Eve what has happened between them.
TADPOLE's sophisticated script by Heather McGowan and Niels Mueller plays like Woody Allen minus the neuroticism, taking a potentially exploitative situation and handling it with with intelligence and great wit. Stanford (who was 23 at the time of filming) gives a restrained comic performance as the Voltaire-quoting youth, holding his own with veterans Weaver, Ritter, and Neuwirth--who practically holds the film together with her timing and sexuality. This scant (77 minutes), but charming production, shot on digital video, was a surprise hit at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.
| Starring | Aaron Stanford, Sigourney Weaver, John Ritter, Bebe Neuwirth |
|---|---|
| Director | Gary Winick |
| Studio | WALT DISNEY STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 15 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Comedy, Gay/Lesbian |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 16 Jan 2004 Production year: 2002 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (3)
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Mrs Robinson has many spiritual daughters. In the emotional nursery where toyboys are the playthings of mature women, she was the archetype — introduced to us, of course, by The Graduate in 1967. This wry comedy is a variant on that theme of inter-generational lust; a low-budget, digital-video rendering of the obsession felt by 15-year-old Oscar (Aaron Stanford) for his fortysomething stepmother Eve (Sigourney Weaver) and the fallout from his unexpected liaison with her best friend Diane (Bebe Neuwirth). The film's brevity (it clocks in at just 78 minutes) means that the one-liners come thick and fast, however that very economy gives the movie an offhand attitude the uniformly strong performances cannot wholly save. Character and situation seem skimped on and as for the Voltaire-quoting Oscar, he's far too self-confident for the audience to ultimately feel any sympathy for him. Still, Gary Winick won the director's award at last year's Sundance Festival and at least demonstrates some potential that will hopefully be fulfilled in future projects.
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Oscar (newcomer Stanford) returns to New York from boarding school still nursing a longtime crush for Eve (Weaver).... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
don't listen to them
this is a really enjoyable film, full of neat touches, solid performances and smart dialogue. you will need to suspend your disbelief on a number of occasions; 'Tadpole' himself is far too erudite, eloquent and composed to fully convince as a fifteen year old boy, and the number of intelligent, beautiful, mature women who seemingy find him irresistable is a little far-fetched. but these are minor gripes, and if you can ignore them there is much to enjoy. also, the film doesn't outstay its welcome at a streamlined 75 minutes. those of you who took to the teenage protaganist of Roger Dodger should definitely watch this film.
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Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Incredibly slight indie
This captures the feelings of an adolescent crush fairly well, with a generally dislikeable lead and all the embarressments of youth. Unfortunately it feels adolescent in it's production as well, although the makers were clearly lucky enough to know a lot of really good actors, such as the excellent Bebe Neuwirth, enough to call on a favour and use them to breathe some much needed life into wafer thin material. Despite the cheapness of it's making there's still a 7 minute end credit roll.
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