'Tadpole': He is 15 going on 40
Who wouldn't want Sigourney Weaver for a stepmother? As Eve, stepmom to 15-year-old Oscar (Aaron Stanford) in Gary Winick's wispy but charming comedy "Tadpole," she's enchanting: an elegant presence in her red cashmere scarf, a thoughtful listener with a warm smile, an intelligent conversationalist on matters of science (she's a researcher) and of the heart.
Oscar, a pale, indistinct prep-school boy with a passion for Voltaire, appreciates all these qualities, and then some.
Alas, he's hopelessly in love with Eve, but quickly becomes sexually entangled with Eve's best friend, Diane (Bebe Neuwirth), all of which makes family life just a tad tricky.
"I know you're French and have a different idea of family relations," says Oscar's pal Charlie, trying desperately to understand. (Oscar's unseen mom lives in France.) Try humming koo-koo-ka-choo-Mrs.-Robinson, Charlie.
All this sounds a bit like an alarmingly junior version of "The Graduate," but Winick's film has a New York-style wit all its own, and a sympathetic warmth that lets us glide past its potentially controversial content. Still, if "Tadpole's" protagonist had been a girl, it's doubtful that we'd be seeing it in theaters.
Taking place over the four days of a Thanksgiving holiday, "Tadpole" — a mere slip of a movie at 78 minutes — is a compressed coming-of-age tale of a boy who seems, in many ways, already grown.
"You're a 40-year-old trapped in a 15-year-old's body," a character tells Oscar, and we're not likely to argue.
To the Upper West Side born, he easily chats with adults (often in French), banters with his building's doorman and carries around his well-thumbed Voltaire.
Indeed, "Tadpole's" only misstep is that Oscar's maturity is a bit too unquestioned — for example, he gets drunk in a neighborhood bar, suavely buying drinks for its resident chanteuse ("Bob, the lady's dry"), with nary a query for an ID. Only in New York? Doubtful.
But Stanford, who was 22 at the time "Tadpole" was shot, is uncannily believable as a sweetly yearning but slightly pretentious teen whose fantasies involve red balloons and French songs, and whose response to a come-on by an older woman is "I'm pretty busy with midterms and all." (He bears not a little resemblance to the lovestruck Max Fischer in "Rushmore," a film "Tadpole" pleasantly recalls.)
Like a tadpole, he's got a blurry, unformed quality to him, with his shapeless gray sweaters and a face not quite ready for adulthood.
Backing up Stanford is a trio of comic veterans, all perfectly cast. A bearded John Ritter, as Oscar's clueless dad, burbles with misguided advice for his son — he's a man fond of the sound of his own voice. Neuwirth, with her cat-ate-the-canary smile, is hilariously naughty as Diane. And Weaver brings a lovely calmness to her scenes.
When the four meet around a dinner table, and secrets and lies start to emerge, it's a wonderful comic payoff, and Winick (previously best known for "The Tic Code") directs it with the door-slamming speed of a French farce.
"Tadpole" is that rarity — a smart, grown-up comedy, for audiences who know that behavior doesn't have to be commendable to be believable.
Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com.
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