Review of Tadpole (2002) by Stacey D — 06 Apr 2011

A very good little indie flick. It reminded me a bit of "Igby Goes Down", which in turn reminded me (intentionally, I'm sure) of The Catcher In The Rye; all these posh, up-scale, private school kids in those formative adolescent years battling violently with the gravity of life's demands that they must form an identity kinda creates it's own genre. And therein lies the comedy and the tragedy, the sacred and the profane, the passion and the heartache. This film touches briefly on them all.

Here, our Holden Caulfield is 15-year old Oscar "Tadpole" Grubman (Aaron Stanford), a highly-intellectual literature junkie who's disconnect from his peers emanates from somewhere between the loss of his mother and his desire to seduce an older woman... namely, his stepmother, Eve (Sigourney Weaver).

Meanwhile, Oscar is drunkenly educed by cougar/sexpot Diane (Bebe Neuwirth), Eve's best friend, and his dad (John Ritter), more interested in being a buddy and a teacher than a father, is eager to see his boy hook up with a nice girl his own age.

Yet another cinematic exploration of the mystical adolescent age lands a solid punch. The small cast, low budget video production and short running time cast a shade of intimacy to the film that seems inviting and unassuming.

It won't change my life, but it certainly hit close to home and wasn't without it's own charm.