Tadpole

A clever tale of a young man infatuated with an older woman, featuring a brilliant comic performance by the wonderful Bebe Neuwirth. Tadpole is the childhood nickname of Oscar (Aaron Stanford), a precocious 15-year-old who disdains girls his own age and nurses an infatuation for his 40-something stepmother, Eve (Sigourney Weaver). But while home from school for Thanksgiving, Oscar gets drunk and falls in bed with Eve's best friend, Diane (Neuwirth), leading to a series of painfully funny scenes in which Oscar fears revelation while trying, desperately, to woo Eve. Tadpole isn't a great movie--the strong script is undercut by flat, unimaginative direction--but every scene with Neuwirth flares into high comedy. She doesn't even have to speak; a sardonic glance from Diane sends Oscar spinning into panic, and Neuwirth handles the part with delicious feline malice. Also featuring John Ritter as Oscar's academic father. --Bret Fetzer