Oscar Grubman (Aaron Stanford) is oddly sophisticated at 15. He idolizes Voltaire and is particular about women's hands. He is secretly in love with his stepmother Eve (Sigourney Weaver). He is back at home in NYC from Chauncey Academy for the Thanksgiving weekend. His father (John Ritter) is concerned. Eve's best friend Diane (Bebe Neuwirth) starts a sexual fling with him and tells all her girlfriends.The kid is self-important and not very compelling. Also he doesn't really look 15 at all which takes away some of the tension. The movie is aiming to be a quirky indie except it's not funny. It's a little particular in its tone but not very interesting. The story is a teen in love with his 40 something stepmother. That could be interesting. This is a twenty something guy in love with Sigourney Weaver. Who isn't?

Bebe Neuwirth's performance as a 40-ish chiropractor in New York City who has an affair with a high school sophomore holds the only interest in this ridiculous, inexplicably celebrated independent film shot on digital video. Aaron Stanford plays Oscar, who is described for us as a "40-year-old living inside a 15-year-old's body"; he quotes Voltaire, reveals a fetish for great hands, and harbors a crush on his stepmother, a medical scientist who apparently doesn't notice the moony-eyed look on her stepson's adoring face. "Tadpole" was picked up at Sundance by Miramax, who couldn't market this thing to anyone but the most rabid Sigourney Weaver fans. Weaver does decent work as the object of Stanford's affection, however it is Neuwirth as a sort of updated Mrs. Robinson who steals the show. Otherwise, this is a comedic flirtation with sophisticated manners which is in itself not sophisticated. The clumsy writing spells out everything for us, the characters are all predetermined, and Stanford is singularly without dimension or appeal. * from ****

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"Tadpole" is a poignant tale of a 15-year-old French student, Oscar who falls in love with his stepmother. He doesn't like girls of his own age because they are shallow, and on the course of this complex sexual preference of his, he sleeps with the sensual forty-something friend of his stepmother too. Aaron Stanford is quite good as the lead character. He nicely captures Oscar's apparent innocence mixed with strong desire for older women. Whereas Sigourney Weaver is surprisingly flat and unimpressive as the stepmother. Perhaps she was not a good choice for the role too. I would have preferred Meg Ryan. However, Bebe Neuwirth is brilliant as her friend Diane who has a sexual interest on Oscar. She is fluent, natural and funny. John Ritter also gives a good performance as his father.The film is a low-budget one, shot in about two weeks. And it doesn't get out of that setback. The screenplay is poor. The idea of quoting Voltaire from time to time is disturbing. The music used in the film is poorly chosen (except Paul Simon's "Only living boy in New York" maybe, though I think it's used in wrong place). Fine acting, the freshness of the story and nice location shots of city landscape makes it a fair film to watch.