Strong and Moving!

Redundant and unnecessary.

Captivating movie !

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Dede Tate (Jodie Foster) is an unconventional single mom to awkward and brilliant nice kid Fred. She's a waitress with her friend Gina (Debi Mazar). Jane Grierson (Dianne Wiest) wants him in her genius program assisted by Garth (David Hyde Pierce). Dede wants a normal childhood for him. When nobody shows up for his birthday, Dede reluctantly allows Fred to go with Jane where Damon is the alpha student. Dede and Jane struggle to be Fred's caregiver. Jane takes him to college where he befriends Eddie (Harry Connick Jr.) after getting hit with a globe.It's a fine family drama most notable for being Jodie Foster's directorial debut in a full length movie. The kid has the gawky nerd look. Foster and Wiest are terrific. I wish they had more scenes together. Their relationships with the kid are the most interesting. In general, I would like the characters have more interactions together. I would like characters like Damon to stay in the picture. I wish there was a destination for the kid to aim for. It's an interesting coming-of-age movie with some underdeveloped relationships.

I just became aware that Jodie Foster had done some directing. I watched Home for the Holidays yesterday, just finished Little Man Tate.This is what all American film should be. The writing is perfect. The pacing, the humor, character development, are fantastic. Enough attention is paid to all the fundamentals, like the shots and editing.In short, it's a wonderful take on the whole head/heart thing. Raw cognitive power is nothing without a healthy affect. The good news is that Fred is never really in danger; in danger of a tragic dehumanization. That's part of the delicacy of the film: No black vs. white, simplistic exposition here. This is a very, very colorful film that sweetly transits us from a looming rarefied sterility to the warm embrace of friends and family. Somehow, without spelling it out for Those of You On Drugs, you are left with the assurance that future opportunities for Fred to use his special gifts are no less secure for all that.

It is rather unfortunate that "Little Man Tate" did not get all the success it deserved.It may be due to the fact that cinema enthusiasts in USA and elsewhere were not at ready to receive such kind of a different yet intelligent film.This charming,poetic,out of the box film was like a bolt from the blue for them.The problem is that most of the times people are interested in pure Hollywood films or in uncommon,peculiar independent films from USA.Little Man Tate did not belong to any of these categories as Jodie Foster created a film which could not be easily pigeonholed.This film's star attraction is young actor Adam Hann Byrd who gives astounding performance as young genius Fred Tate.As Jane Grierson,Fred Tate's educator,Dianne Wiest too plays an important role in the film.We get to see glimpses of Fred Tate's turbulent life which gets metamorphosed when he is found to have qualities of a creative genius at a very young age.His life takes a turn for the worst when he finds that his stature of precocious child has deprived him of his natural growth and a normal childhood.Little Man Tate is good film for all those who would like to be enlightened, entertained,educated and motivated.

This story is a realistic account (I admit, I am assuming) of what it must be like to be a child genius, not fitting in with kids your own age nor with older kids. It must really be difficult for all involved.Adam Hanna-Byrd, as "Fred," is the star of the show and plays that young kid. Jodie Foster plays his mother. The kid's a neat little guy and the main adult characters, played by Foster and Dianne Wiest, are interesting, too. The latter plays the head mistress of a school for gifted children. She and Foster clash a lot about how to bring up the child.The only thing that marred this film was the language. There is too much profanity (six usages of the Lord's name in vain, for example) for a "family film" like this. There is no reason for all of it in a thoughtful, kid-themed movie. Anyway, it's still worth a look.It's nice to see Hanna-Byrd, in real life, is living much more of a normal existence, having gone to college and graduating in 2004