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How do you think a film about the physical relationship between a mature 15-year-old girl and two 40-year-old professional men would go over in today's society? It probably wouldn't see the light of day, even if somebody had the cojones to make it. Gary Winick's Tadpole, which depicts a similar March-August relationship but with a teenage boy and two older women, won the Director's Award at this year's Sundance Film Festival. And that was after the film found itself in a bidding war that earned its producers about 30 times what Tadpole cost to make.
It all seems a little odd to me, but I'll try not to let my confusion over the double standard impact my opinion of the film. Tadpole is about a high school sophomore named Oscar Grubman (Aaron Stanford), who we're introduced to as he takes a train from his fancy prep school to his home in Manhattan for Thanksgiving break. He seems content to read Voltaire, while pal Charlie (Robert Iler, The Sopranos) watches in amazement as a pretty coed with an obvious interest in Oscar is given the cold shoulder. When Charlie asks why he blew the girl off, Oscar tells him it's because "she had the hands of a child." Besides, Oscar explains, there's a new woman in his life, though when pressed for details by Charlie, he gives none.
The new woman, it turns out, is Eve (Sigourney Weaver, Heartbreakers), a cardiologist working at Columbia University. Yeah, she's more than twice Oscar's age, but that's not the scandalous part - Eve is also his stepmother. We're supposed to buy Oscar's attraction to Eve because he's a very sophisticated 15-year-old who is fluent in French, extremely well read (especially poetry), says things like "I'm fatigued, Father," and generally seems much more interested in discussing the merits of Adam Smith's economic theories than chasing young tail. Basically, he's Eddie Kaye Thomas's Finch from American Pie (right down to his love of MILFs), only fleshed out a bit more.
Oscar's plans to woo Eve hit a major stumbling block one evening when he gets drunk and accidentally screws his stepmother's best friend, Diane (Bebe Neuwirth), for two reasons: She's wearing Eve's perfume-scented scarf, and she has great hands (she's a chiropractor). Cue uncomfortable dinner scene, in which Oscar is terrified Diane will spill the beans and destroy his chances with Eve. Umm, isn't that statutory rape? Instead of worrying she'll be arrested, Diane seems to revel in the sexual encounter as she puts Oscar through the wringer. A similar relationship is depicted in Lovely & Amazing, and it ends with the woman being incarcerated.
We've seen the older gal-younger guy thing before, whether the relationship is initiated by the woman (The Graduate), the boy (Rushmore), mutual (Harold & Maude) or "other" (Spanking the Monkey), but Tadpole isn't nearly as successful as any of these films. Instead of focusing on Oscar's pursuit of Eve, the film tries too hard to depict its main character as an adult in a boy's body. At times it almost feels like Big or Freaky Friday. and Tadpole's ultra-short running time really undermines the portrayal of Oscar and Eve's story. It's not the best film for people who like resolution.
On the plus side, Tadpole is a pretty amazing accomplishment, if you consider it was made for $150,000 and shot in just 14 days. The limited budget forced Winick (The Tic Code) to use digital video, but it works well here, and even makes Manhattan look more attractive than Woody Allen or Whit Stillman have lately. The film occasionally features some strong dialogue, especially the scene in which Oscar and Eve discuss the symbolism of the heart (a theme explored to death in Clint Eastwood's Blood Work), and the acting is good, especially from Neuwirth and Stanford (the latter will be seen as Pyro in X-Men 2). Still, I can't help shake the feeling that if the male and female roles were reversed, loud-mouthed feminists would be headed for the theatre with pitchforks and torches, even if the teenage girl ran around quoting Voltaire instead of Lance Bass.
1:18 - PG-13 for sexual content, mature thematic elements and language
========== X-RAMR-ID: 32987 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 751714 X-RT-TitleID: 1114787 X-RT-SourceID: 595 X-RT-AuthorID: 1146 X-RT-RatingText: 6/10
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