Tadpole
by Gary Winick
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Aaron Stanford, Bebe Neuwirth, John Ritter, Kate Mara, Sigourney WeaverDirector: Gary Winick
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
Writer: Heather McGowan
Writer: Niels Mueller
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 78 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-01-21
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Miramax Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Tadpole
Movie Review: Short and sweet!
Summary: 5 Stars
At 77 minutes this film really packs a wallop---hilarious most of the way through, but also poignant and incisive at turns.
I rented this film mainly because I absolutely love both Sigourney Weaver and Bebe Neuwirth but I had low expectations, thinking it was probably going to be another "The Graduate" knockoff with the sort of pretentious deadness of "Rushmore."
Instead I was pleasantly surprised: while "Tadpole" does make a couple of self-conscious and coy allusions to "The Graduate" (one of my all-time favorites that I've seen dozens of times) it definitely has its own unique style and flavor. Aaron Stanford is no Dustin Hoffman but is more than up to the role, portraying the super-bright, gawky teenager very adroitly. Weaver and Neuwirth put in excellent performances as is their norm, Neuwirth especially packs an ungodly amount of devastating sexual magnetism in every scene, with every glance and gesture and word---ay yi yi, I kept wanting to kick Stanford for not being elated to have HER fall into his lap!
The other really side-splitting supplier of comic relief here is John Ritter, who plays the brainy but clueless college professor with delightful aplomb...I didn't even realize he was John Ritter until the credits!
All in all this is a light film but utterly delightful, it's too bad it's not at least an extra 30 minutes longer.
Some reviewers have complained about the digital camera picture often being washed out but I found it perfectly fine, my only objection was a bit of excessive camera movement during the first 15 minutes of the movie. Otherwise everything comes together marvelously: the strong script and cast, score, camera work, film editing, etc. For the 2 weeks of filming and shoestring $150,000 budget they really put together a very high quality piece of work. How refreshing to see a film that dares to do whatever the hell it wants however it wants, without boring the audience to tears!
Summary of Tadpole
Sigourney Weaver (HEARTBREAKERS, GALAXY QUEST), John Ritter (SLING BLADE), and Bebe Neuwirth (LIBERTY HEIGHTS, THE FACULTY, TV's CHEERS) lead an outstanding cast of stars in a seductively irreverent coming-of-age comedy that critics absolutely adored. Oscar Grubman (Aaron Stanford -- TV's THIRD WATCH) is no ordinary 15-year-old. He's suave, smart, cultured and has one thing on his mind: older women! But be careful what you wish for, Oscar! When a sexy 40-something friend of the family (Neuwirth) actually takes Oscar up on his infatuation, he suddenly finds himself in way over his head! Winner of the Director's Award and nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival -- you won't believe how the sophisticated fun takes off ... as the romantic complications pile up!A clever tale of a young man infatuated with an older woman, featuring a brilliant comic performance by the wonderful Bebe Neuwirth. Tadpole is the childhood nickname of Oscar (Aaron Stanford), a precocious 15-year-old who disdains girls his own age and nurses an infatuation for his 40-something stepmother, Eve (Sigourney Weaver). But while home from school for Thanksgiving, Oscar gets drunk and falls in bed with Eve's best friend, Diane (Neuwirth), leading to a series of painfully funny scenes in which Oscar fears revelation while trying, desperately, to woo Eve. Tadpole isn't a great movie--the strong script is undercut by flat, unimaginative direction--but every scene with Neuwirth flares into high comedy. She doesn't even have to speak; a sardonic glance from Diane sends Oscar spinning into panic, and Neuwirth handles the part with delicious feline malice. Also featuring John Ritter as Oscar's academic father. --Bret Fetzer
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