Tadpole (2002)

"One should always aim at being interesting rather than exact" – Voltaire. Never has a truer word been spoken and this film would have saved itself by paying heed. The basic plot concerns an overly intelligent and smugly sophisticated 15 year old Oscar Grubman (Aaron Stanford) and an infatuation with his much older stepmother, Eve (Sigourney Weaver). No prizes for guessing which 1967 Mike Nichols film this is styled on.One drunken night, Oscar bumps into Eve's best friend, Diane (Bebe Neuwirth), a similarly older lady. Diane seizes her opportunity and seduces Oscar like the classic cougar that she is through the guise of wearing a scarf and perfume that remind Oscar of his stepmother. Now, it should be duly noted that if you're a 15 year old guy with a fetish for the older woman, then said older woman could not take any better form than that of Diane when played by Ms Neuwirth. However, the overall plot is not a challenge and distinctly lacks any sense that it might actually be going somewhere until the last ten minutes. Importantly, the last ten minutes turn out to be just as disappointing as the rest of this film.The only pillars of strength for 'Tadpole' are the performances turned in by Bebe Neuwirth and John Ritter. Their time on screen manages to break the monotony of what is otherwise a drab and disengaged motion picture. It says a considerable amount about a film when an actress of Sigourney Weaver's caliber fails to resonate or lift the tone, as even she appears bored at times.The characters seem wholly underdeveloped and the interesting ones appear to drop off the face of the earth almost as quickly as they were shoved onto it. Eve, as Oscar's stepmother could have been an interesting version of the love interest but her limited time on screen leaves a vague and insipid impression of the character. Oscar is an acceptable protagonist, but given that the film deals with a rich topic for storytelling, he is also somewhat disappointing for a male lead with what could have been an excellent show and tell of the Oedipus Complex. The fact that Aaron Stanford is evidently older than his character's 15 years has not gone amiss with either the scriptwriter or the director as the supporting cast constantly reminds the viewer that he is indeed older than he seems, in more ways than one.As John Ritter puts it during the dinner sequence, incidentally the best scene in the film, "it's all very The Graduate." Indeed it is, minus the finesse. Crammed with embarrassingly clichéd musical dream sequences, that would quite frankly make Rodgers and Hammerstein seem like a welcome addition to any film collection, we have before us a disastrous attempt to make a Graduate-esque teenage crush appear facetious. Winnick has failed to provide an attention grabbing look at Oscar's dilemma, instead eliciting the comical whimsy of the protagonist's daydreams to the point of exaggerated (and plain bad) slapstick. Overall, 'Tadpole' suggests that it could have, should have and would have been better had Winnick been prepared to put some oomph into the production. It's a shame to see actors of Weaver's, Ritter's and Neuwirth's ability being wasted on shoddy production values and lazy attention to pulldown's and video field capacity. The result is a half-baked comedy that is watchable (tenacity spanning) but at times lacking in passion. Very disappointing ultimately.

Finally after several months of searching I found Tadpole's formatted original copy of the movie, satisfied? Oh yes!..it seems to be more of highly average movies comes from Indie films nowadays. I love Aaron Stanford strut sage principles but quite witty feelings towards love. I agree with one of the commenter concerning Weaver's role, I notice that it seems she's so concern what's hooking up between Diane and Oscar, that she readily know already what Oscar really feels for her. It doesn't matter, this film is one sample of an atypical situation about infatuation between two closely compacted individuals. Soar your senses and find yourself a good moment to watch a great Indie movie..

I am a college student studying a-levels and need help and comments from anyone who has any views at all about the theme of mothers in film, in the mother. Whether you have gone through something similar or just want to comment and help me research more about this film, any comment would much greatly appreciated. The comments will be used solely for exam purposes and will be included in my written exam. So if you have any views at all, im sure i can put them to use and you could help me get an A! I am also studying 'About a Boy' and 'The Mother' so if you have seen these films as well, i would appreciate it if you could leave comments on here on that page. Thank you.

Just caught this on IFC. Poster mwyarbrough thinks those who have a problem with "Tadpole" don't get it: "Because he is very intelligent, Oscar makes the classic adolescent mistake of overestimating his own maturity..." The problem with this assessment is that no adult in the real world, no matter how sophisticated (and the adults here twist themselves into pretzels to "prove" how "sophisticated" they are) would put up with this obnoxious little sh*t for 5 minutes! The only thing that rang true in this Murmur of the Heart wanna-be is Obnoxious Little Sh*t's paranoia about Step-Mama's Gal Pal. But how he tries to stop her is mean, and when she all-too happily drops the bomb, Dad (who's such a wuss, he opens his Thanksgiving toast with an apology to Native Americans) won't confront them, and Step-Mama reacts with some half-hearted "I'm shocked" retorts. As others have noted, a crime was committed, but only in the movies can a 15 year old boy be served at a bar without getting carded, bed an older woman, have other older women swoon over him, and French kiss Step-Mama, who tells him: "You're old enough to make your own decisions!" Oy! No wonder Sundance ate it up, critics compared it to Woody Allen, and Miramax picked it up for a whopping $6 million! That whirring sound you hear is Voltaire spinning in his grave!