Little Man Tate (1991)

	Directed by: Jodie Foster	COUNTRY USA GENRE Drama NORWEGIAN TITLE Little Man Tate RUNNING TIME 99 minutes
	Produced by: Peggy Rajski Scott Rudin
	Written by: Scott Frank

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Dede Tate	Jodie Foster
Jane Grierson	Dianne Wiest
Fred Tate	Adam Hann-Byrd	½
Eddie	Harry Connick Jr.
Garth Emmerick	David Pierce	½
Gina	Debi Mazar	-
Physics Professor	Josh Mostel	-
Damon Wells	P.J. Ochlan	½
Quizmaster (uncredited)	Bob Balaban	-

Review

In her directorial debut, Jodie Foster aims for the poignant and truthful, telling the story of a 7-year old child prodigy and his struggling mother. The kid doesn’t fit in, and nobody really understands him – neither the so-called normal kids at his school, his mother, nor even Jane, an educator and essentially impresario for gifted children. The film comes close to being relevant and moving in a handful of segments, but there’s an annoying contrivance seeping through the entire plot – including a terribly Hollywoodised ending that feels more like a wrap party for the cast than closure for the story and its characters. Foster’s craftsmanship as a director is very workmanlike, but at least there's a fine score by Mark Isham. And Adam Hann-Byrd, although hardly a particularly talented actor, strikes the right tone and cadence as the misunderstood prodigy.