Details
Movie Description
Fifteen-year-old Chauncey 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.
Film Notes
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Anamorphic Widescreen
Interactive Features:
Scene Access
Interactive Menus
Theatrical release: July 19, 2002
Industry Reviews
"...Funny and touching..."
Rolling Stone - p.30 - Peter Travers (01/11/1990)
"...Stanford is a major find....This crowd-pleasing winner instantly catapults Winick to the front ranks of the new directors' club..."
Movieline - Stephen Farber (07/01/2002)
"...[An] ingratiating romantic coming-of-age comedy....Stanford does a splendid job..."
Entertainment Weekly - Lisa Schwarzbaum (07/26/2002)
"...[Mr. Stanford] flawlessly captures his character's aching, doe-eyed sincerity and yearning goodness....[The film] has a soulful heart and a clear grasp of its rarefied milieu..."
New York Times - Stephen Holden (07/19/2002)
"...TADPOLE plays like a witty, well-told short story, sly and delightful..."
Los Angeles Times - Kevin Thomas (07/19/2002)
"...TADPOLE is an irreverent and witty comedy in which the events aren't predictable but are well paced..."
USA Today - Claudia Puig (07/19/2002)
"...Neuwirth's saucy seductress is magnificent and Weaver brings vulnerability to her ice maiden. But this is Stanford's show, his talent burning from every frame..."
Total Film - Neil Smith (07/01/2003)
"...Winick gets the most from the cast..."
Sight and Sound - Leslie Felperin (08/01/2003)
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