Tadpole

PG-13

Released Jul 19, 2002

1 hr. 18 min.

Comedy

List

77%

108 Reviews

Tomatometer

57%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Beautiful, sophisticated women are all over Oscar Grubman (Aaron Stanford). He is sensitive and compassionate, speaks French fluently, is passionate about Voltaire, and thinks the feature that tells the most about a woman is her hands. He would be a perfect catch -- except he's only fifteen years old.

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Critics Consensus

Presenting a sexual awakening with surprising candor, Tadpole is a spiky coming of age tale that benefits from a deeply felt performance by Aaron Stanford and a script that is unafraid to wade into morally choppy waters.

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Qasim R

Ending is not good. .

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/02/23

Full Review

steve d

Well all I can say is it has a young Kate Mara and the rest of the film is really uncomfortable.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Tadpole is about a 15 year old boy who lusts after his step-mother and sleeps with her best friend. The young male/older female relationships form the backbone of Gary Winick's coming-of-age tale, and the film mixes elements of Rushmore and The Graduate to create an enjoyable comedy. The script, credited to Heather McGowan & Niels Mueller, is smart, witty, and occasionally very funny and the top-notch cast brings the story to life with aplomb. Sigourney Weaver elevates anything she appears in and this film is the prove of it. (Great low budget comedy drama).

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

nefasto r

Ok, Obviously you will have to be in a light mood, and to keep your expectation low. It's a low budget, scruffy filmed little comedy. But what I can say, I loved it. Maybe I just need it after some full-of-itself art-film. Plus I am very sympathetic with someone falling in love with Ellen Ripley!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This movie had me at hello...beautiful older woman. No one likes a good May-December romance as much as I do. Funny, steamy and taboo are the delicious results of a great setting. But Tadpole is about as sexy as varicose veins and about as funny as statutory rape. This film represents the very worst of independent filmmaking. Horrible miscasting, pseudo-intellectual dialogue that reads like Internet articles coming out of characters' mouths, and scenes played for comedy that not only have awkward timing, but seem completely ignorant of the most basic sitcom rules. Being a proverbial celebrity hater, it surprises me to say this, but this is one of the few movies in which I actually felt sorry for the film's actors.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

Serge L

A tadpole of a film and I get the allusion to frogs. Seems a bit racist but usual from the englishes. Well, I am shocked that the englishes allowed this film to be made. The boy's age is not even legal in Canada anymore, imagine in the USA! OMG, pedophiles! Also such a fantasy to kiss Sigourney.... mmmmmhhh. Oh pardon, I was daydreaming for a minute. The film production is quite low to the point of thinking it was a student project. Mmmmh, maybe the student project of our main actor to get some kissing with Sigourney fantasy job... Well in that case it is perfectly understandable and I would totally lend my hand to such venture and please make it a film I can see so that I get some fantasy time with SW. Mmmmmh...

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/30/16

Full Review

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Gary Winick

Director

Sigourney Weaver

Eve

Aaron Stanford

Oscar

John Ritter

Stanley

Bebe Neuwirth

Diane

Robert Iler

Charlie

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Tadpole: Official Clip - This Is Not Ancient Rome

2:13

Tadpole: Official Clip - Happy Ending

2:13

Tadpole: Official Clip - Family Dinner

1:52

Tadpole: Official Clip - Not a Very Good Mother

2:13

Tadpole: Official Clip - Kitchen Kiss

2:13

Tadpole: Official Clip - The Thing Itself

2:11

Tadpole: Official Clip - A Grown Up, or Close Enough

2:12

Tadpole: Official Clip - Who Is She?

1:44

Tadpole: Official Clip - Mum's the Word

2:07

Tadpole: Official Clip - A Timeless Home

2:12

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

Coming-of-age comedy with some sex.

Rated: 4/5

Dec 28, 2010

Full Review

Empire Magazine

Rated: 2/5

Dec 30, 2006

Full Review

Jamie Russell

BBC.com

Rated: 4/5

Jun 14, 2003

Full Review

Greg Muskewitz

eFilmCritic.com

Rated: 1/5

Nov 18, 2011

Full Review

John A. Nesbit

Old School Reviews

unpretentiously entertains

Rated: B

Jul 24, 2011

Full Review

Felix Vasquez Jr.

Cinema Crazed

It's a flawed but satisfying movie with a great leading man, and a slew of great supporting performances.

Apr 29, 2009

Full Review

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Synopsis

Beautiful, sophisticated women are all over Oscar Grubman (Aaron Stanford). He is sensitive and compassionate, speaks French fluently, is passionate about Voltaire, and thinks the feature that tells the most about a woman is her hands. He would be a perfect catch -- except he's only fifteen years old.

Director: Gary Winick
Executive Producer: Jonathan Sehring, Caroline Kaplan, John Sloss
Screenwriter: Heather McGowan, Niels Mueller
Distributor: Miramax Films
Production Co: IFC Productions, InDiGent Entertainment
Rating: PG-13 (Sexual Content|Mature Thematic Elements|Language)
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 19, 2002, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 27, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.9M
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby SR, Dolby A, Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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