Little Man Tate (1991)

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.

Fmovies: I watch the movie and i think it was 1999, so I was not much older than the boy. i found inspiration and comfort in realizing what great potential could recides in me i.e i was motivated for life, to sot of always try not to be average but unique and special.

I am not a genius but when I was a kid I dreamt of nothing else. I do not want to be a genius, but to find my talent, my purpose in life. I think the is nothing more than more than, than to find purpose.

And this is what this movie is about, a young boy born with clear purpose.

Not just that, but the movie brought many thoughts and actions that still bind me today, it created a character in me that wants to always be and do better than others. A character that motivated me to concentrate even more on my drawing skill, mathematical, singing(musical),athletic, analytical, karate,and etc skills. There are so much skill that i have developed though this movie over the past 8 to 10 years since i watch it.

when i think as to what my personality was back then i cant even remember because that was not me, that was just some emotion that got stronger that bounded me and kept me slavery, and now at about 12 intervals a year a year I, remember what my problem is and try to fix myself where ever i can.

Its a very good movie, but such movies should not be watch by children with wick or sensitive personality problems.

"Little Man Tate" is a heartwarming, at times poignant, story of a precocious and highly intelligent little boy named Fred Tate (Adam Hynn Bird) incapable to develop sane relationships with his entourage, especially kids his age. His best friend is his mother, a twenty-something free-spirited single woman named Dede and played by a young Jodie Foster, he calls her by her name as if that complicity was a way to make up for the lack of real buddies. One of the most eloquent scenes shows a room full of birthday decorations, balloons, cake and candies, but lacking the essential: kids.

This might sound like usual material; after all, gifted kids have always been lacking social skills despite their efforts. In a way, maybe these very efforts are the indicators that they have something to compensate, a sort of invisible burden but of socially handicapping effect. Still, the film obviously tries to get beyond these clichés by establishing the real trait of Fred; he's a smart boy with an incredible intuitive quality, so he can make his own diagnosis. His capability to 'understand' even the most obscure and hidden meanings maybe surpasses his ability to juggle with cubic roots and logarithms, so the paradox is that he can tell you what is wrong with him. But like in a math riddle, just because you can tell what the problem is doesn't mean you've got what it takes to solve it.

Fred tries his best to have ersatz of contacts with the other kids. The problem is that he's like a collateral victim of his intelligence, he's highly anxious over the future of the world, developing an ulcer from the anxiety, and yet he needs to be constantly challenged, to satisfy the particularities of his gift. Fred needs challenges he obviously can't find in the very world he wants to fit in, and he needs the real world to fulfill a few dreams, there's a sort of complex situation that an outsider will try to solve. The third player is Jane, played by Dianne Wiest, a former gifted child who helps them to find a path through painting, artistic creations, and travels to Orlando, contests and interview. As they say "travels broaden the mind" and that's what she tries to do.

There is not much of a plot except a fascinating coming-of-age story revolving around the 'love' triangle between Jane who's obviously fascinated by Fred and is convinced she can help him to find his way and Dede who can't stand the way he's treated like some sort of a circus freak. It's like "Good Will Hunting" with Wiest in the Skarsgard and Foster in the Williams' roles, but with maternal love at stakes. Dede even threatens Jane to kill her if anything wrong happens, and killing isn't a manner of speaking. But it seems like Fred is interested in these experiments, and during his journey, he comes across many interesting encounters, an obnoxious mathemagician kid wearing a black cape and a young adult student who teaches him billiards. But these relationships never last and tend to project the same reality to Fred: he needs a real mother and real friends.

Jane doesn't even seem capable to play a mother role, as she was too focused on the intelligence of her children she couldn't reach the intelligence of the heart, and Dede can't reach her son's mind. The story progresses nonetheless through a fascinating path where Fred's insecurities and weaknesses, rather understandable for a child, highlight the more unstable emotions of adults and inevitab

Little Man Tate fmovies. Little Man Tate is a very good movie. Jodie Foster's debut as a filmmaker shows a little boy genius, who we've all seen before. The difference is the little boy is human, and not just a brain. He worries about people dying, envies the popular athletic boy, all the while plays music in competition form and forms math problems on his head. The conflict between Jodie Foster, the mother, and Dianne Wiest, the child genius grown up, is somewhat annoying, but it makes sense, as they are both extremes of parenting. The child in this movie plays it superbly, as does Foster and Wiest. Some points of this movie I was about to worry that the emotional music was coming and we'd see some sappy speech. Thankfully that never happened. What this movie is, is an emotional movie that doesn't have a bad guy or good guy to root or cheer for. Everyone here's prerogatives make sense, and it's up to you who you support, and what you think about Fred Tate, the little genius.

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 :.

I LOVE this movie!!! In fact, it is my favorite. I was a senior at the University of Cincinnati at the time it was filmed and my best friend is in two scenes. The college scenes were filmed primarily at the University of Cincinnati, in Cincinnati, Ohio at McMicken Hall and outside the campus. The scene with Harry Connick Jr. at his apartment is in a dilapidated apartment building on Ludlow Ave. The scenes of Odyssey of the Mind were filmed at the Wexner Center of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. During filming Jodie Foster kept a low profile, as she also directed. This story is truly timeless...gifted education is still in the formative stages today. The movie shows that a careful balance between the nurture of the parent and the wisdom of the educator can give children an environment to reach their potential in a healthy way. Jodie Foster is wonderful as the loving but uneducated mother and Harry Connick Jr. has his first screen role in a major motion picture!