Le petit homme

I was mainly interested in this film because of the subject - the predicament of a child genius. Half way through it I was captivated, not so much by the subject(in part because of the way it was handled), but by the child genius himself. Adam Hann-Byrd is thoroughly captivating. Rendering a sympathetic performance, he's almost bewitching! He even looks a lot like Jodie Foster. And it's to her credit as a director for finding such a perfect little actor to play such a complex role. Jodie Foster herself gives a moving performance as a struggling mother who is suddenly made to feel incapacitated, both financially and mentally, as the mother of a child prodigy. Diane Wiest's choice of characters has always been interesting. From 'Edward Scissorhands' to 'Birdcage', 'Practical magic' and still other films, she's usually played characters who are slightly quirky, odd or non-conformist, with a touch of humor in them. Over here she plays to perfection the role of the demanding, independent mentor of Fred Tate with a warped emotional intelligence.

One grouse though...as far Diane Wiest's character is concerned. I think her role is too much of an extreme as compared to Jodie Foster's. At the end of the film, Wiest's character, Jane Grierson ends up looking sheepish, repenting and even stupid to an extent. The end is almost sort of an ode to perfect motherhood, decrying the failure of the poor mentor spending tons of money by taking prodigies under her wing. It seems to say, child prodigies don't need all that specialized atmosphere, don't need special benefits, when in fact they do. I'm not saying that they ought to be living in state-of-the-art cages where they will only interact with other prodigies. But they do need a lot of other benefits that ordinary schools which underestimate the intelligence of even "normal" people just cannot provide. Child geniuses need to be dealt with very sensitively, keeping in mind their advanced faculties all the time and an atmosphere has to be created for them to properly nurture their special gifts. Somehow this film, by showing Jane Grierson as obviously insensitive, indirectly puts forth a bad case for special training for child geniuses. The real test of motherhood and Dede's feelings of jealousy towards Jane would have been explored if Jane, along with her maternal feelings for Fred would have also been shown to be sensitive or considerate. Instead we are made to laugh at Jane because she offers Fred some brown fruit/veggie juice and he asks for Coke... So that's it. This film is good, not for the content or it's resolution, but for the acting. Kudos to Adam Hann-Byrd!

Little Man Tate has it's moments. Fortunately, it doesn't run into the problems of other kid-oriented movies by falling into stereotype. If it did, Fred would have glasses and acne problems like every other geek. I am happy that they found a decent child actor to carry the weight of the production (much like Empire of the Sun). There just isn't that much to say about this movie other than that it appeals only to a selective few.

I will be honest, this could have been better and deeper, but Jodie Foster didn't want it to and so she winds up being the Virgin Mary in this movie. I know that doesn't make a lot of sense here, but if you see it you'll understand. Perhaps she is becoming an egotist. Still, between Revenge of the Nerds and this, I'll take this.

Overall, not necessary viewing, but you could do worse. 3 out of 5 stars.

This work presents the challenges of raising a gifted child. It is never a easy as it seems, raising a child who is more intellectual than you are - a fact wrenchingly portrayed herein. The emotional needs of these children often go unattended, as the parents usually struggle to satisfy the intellectual needs.

Jodie Foster gives a fantastic performance as a mom under the aforementioned circumstances.

Many may consider the ending weak, if they are unable to demonstrate the ability to see beyond the story itself. If you can, then this work is well done and offers hope in the end.

I found it a bit better than mildly entertaining, but it's not something I will want to watch again.

It rates a 6.7/10 from...

the Fiend :.

Little Man Tate was one of my favorite movies as a child, I don't know why, but maybe because my grandmother and I bonded over this movie, it's just special to me. But I was a little disappointed to see a low rating on IMDb, I think this is an absolute treasure of a film. Jodie and Dianne are just such a terrific pair of actresses and are perfect casting for the film. I know Jodie Foster was in charge of the film and she did a terrific job. The boy who played Fred was so charming and fit the role perfectly. The story is so touching and beautiful, not to mention original since the story of gifted children isn't really discussed that well.

Fred is a young boy who is extremely gifted, his intelligence is something very special. But his mom, DeeDee, doesn't really let him expand since she is a single mom wanting her son just to be normal. But Fred is discovered by Jane Grierson, a professor of highly intelligent and gifted children, giving Fred the chance to expand his world and even takes him to college at a young age. Fred meets interesting characters throughout his journey learning that maybe life has more to offer than what he used too.

Little Man Tate is a very good movie and very charming. I know some might find it a little boring, but honestly, you have got to give this movie a chance, it has great drama and some fun comedy along the way. David Hyde Pierce was such a fun addition to the cast, he really makes his screen presence enjoyable, so does Dianne. But the whole cast is just perfect and seemed to enjoy doing this movie together. I would highly recommend this movie, it's a good one to watch.

7/10

I've long been a fan of Jodie Foster's acting, and upon my first viewing of "Little Man Tate", I can now say I'm a fan of her directorial talents as well.

The story is of Fred Tate, son of single mother Dede. It's found that, at the age of 2, Fred can already read the print on the bottom of a dinner plate. Dede, and the rest of the world, realize that Fred is a genius, but Dede is determined that Fred, while given ever opportunity to expand his gift, is not exploited by the well meaning, but pretentious head mistress of a school for gifted children, Jane Grierson, portrayed by the outstanding actress Dianne Wiest.

The story's told, mainly, through the eyes of Fred; however, we also see the viewpoints of Dede & Jane who each feel that she alone has Fred's best interests at heart. We are given tremendous insight into how Fred sees and relates to the world around him. He has the understanding that's beyond most adults but only the emotional experience of his 7 years of life.

Through Fred, we can see that the academic world of gifted children isn't just filled with the nice, polite, precocious, bespectacled children that we are often shown on news magazines or public television programs. We are allowed to see that some are as outright rude and pretentious as the adults who claim to be only nurturing their gifts.

In her feature-film directorial debut, Foster is able to capture the world as Fred sees it. She's able still allow us to see Fred as the youngster he is. Fred's intellect isn't the basis of the story, just one element in it. She lets the story do the work, and she let's the character's tell the tale. She allows the characters to be real people not just the stereotypes that so often are found in films dealing with this subject matter.

Jodie Foster's only directed two films since this one ("Home For The Holidays"-1995 & "Flora Plum"-2005), and I've seen "Home For The Holidays" which I also feel was very well done. It seems that Ms. Foster is being very careful in picking her projects, much like the late Stanley Kubrick did. I only hope her unique talents are recognized and she's given more green lights for future projects.