Review of Little Man Tate (1991) by Dawdlingpoet — 25 Nov 2021

I'm pretty sure I'd seen this movie a few years ago and I hadn't realised it but it was worth watching again, as I feel its a decent movie. Its kind of basic as far as the storyline and characters are concerned but its perfectly watchable and most importantly, Fred is portrayed well as a rather awkward, shy young boy who on the outset is happy to attend the summer school for the gifted, expand his mind and be challenged by equally gifted younger people. he apparently becomes fond of Jane's son, Eddie, who he watches though slightly from a distance, much to his annoyance and he responds with some verbal bullying, although later on they open up to each other a bit and realise that they share more issues in common than they perhaps realised.

Ultimately, the movie is about the conflict Fred has, or any young girl or boy really, between his growing intellect and the potential that holds and his craving to be accepted, to fit in, ie his emotional wants and needs. Fred is, as I say, very well portrayed by Adam Hann-Byrd as somebody who clearly has alot on his mind and who thinks he knows what he wants, who is gifted but really more fragile and who holds alot inside himself. He's quite emotive, its certainly clear when he has alot on his mind and yet he plays the part of a 'regular kid' in other scenes very well too.Equally, Dianne Wiest gives a very convincing performance as Jane, who clearly sees Fred for all his potential and is very keen to provide nothing but the best opportunities to tap into said potential and take him as high as possible up the academic ladder, while sadly somewhat ignoring his other needs and ultimately his longing to simply hang out with his peer group. At first Fred is impressed with Jane, with her teachings and the different trips that she takes him and the other gifted children on but I think its safe to say that their relationship becomes strained in time and he questions her background and her motives even to an exent, which must be quite upsetting for Jane. I can certainly see things from both Jane and Freds points of view and watching the story pan out, well it made for interesting viewing (although im sure I've seen it before, maybe once or twice before but it is a good watch) - I think that its in a way bittersweet what the ultimate outcome is, you could feel frustrated by Freds actions or very relieved for him, depending on how you see it. Anyway Jane is clearly shown to be someone who very much cares about her students, Fred commenting that she's his second mother in one particular instance, although he seemed to say it a little begrudgingly, in that he accepts she has something of a motherly role in a way but its also true that no-one, for him, can really replace his biological mother, even though she can't relate to him on his IQ level, being a struggling unemployed single mother.

Its interesting to see how Fred interacts with both his mother and Jane at different stages in the movie - I thought that this was a well thought out movie that was generally quite good, although if im to criticise it then I'd say that its perhaps the storyline is almost a little basic, certainly the aspect that Freds mum doesn't seem that nice a person and she just happens to bring in a fairly low income and have a certain attitude, yadda yadda, while thats the story thats meant to be told and surely there will be plenty of families where all these things apply, ehh it was perhaps a bit too cheesy, if thats the term?. I think its fair to say that there is a sentimentality to it through Fred's character, but really it still deals with the basic issue or example of how young people grow up being taught many things that are beyond the knowledge of others their age whilst feeling cut off from their peers and feeling frustrated by that. It does make you wonder about quite what happens to such people in their later life, beyong their teenage years, though the movie does give a rough idea, after seeing this it makes me want to look more into such things, maybe...at least I thought it was an interesting plotline.

Ultimately this is a pretty good movie, almost a great one but it might be a bit too cheesy or even plain for some people - I suppose its a drama movie, although its perhaps not conventionally dramatic, it could be a little slow and boring to those easily distracted, maybe. The movie is about 20 years old but it still works and while fashions have changed, the story still applies and I don't think many, if any, changes would be necessary. I think its fair to say that Jodie Foster is known for taking roles which are emotional or in weepy, sentimental movies, so I don't think this was a challenging role for her but she and the other main cast play their roles well and generally it works pretty well. Its almost an excellent movie but there is an element of cheesiness which just stops me from giving it that extra star rating.