Themes: Child Prodigies, Mothers and Sons, Single Parents
Main Cast: Jodie Foster, Adam Hann-Byrd, Dianne Wiest, Harry Connick, Jr., David Hyde Pierce
Release Year: 1991
Country: US
Run Time: 99 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Jodie Foster made her directorial debut (with a script by Scott Frank) in this tale of a child prodigy's search for social acceptance. Fred Tate (Adam Hann-Byrd) is a precocious fourth grader who has no problem with the most complex mathematical problems or in banging out a Rachmaninoff concerto on the piano, but is totally inept at playing baseball or dealing with children his own age. His mother Dede (Jodie Foster) is a cocktail waitress who acts more like a child than Fred, but cares passionately about her son. Fred comes to the attention of child psychologist Jane Grierson (Dianne Wiest), who runs a summer camp for child prodigies called Odyssey of the Mind. She invites Fred to attend the summer session, creating a rift between Fred and Dede. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
The directorial debut of actress Jodie Foster, this comedy-drama about a Cincinnati boy genius is one of the decade's most underrated gems, based on a nearly flawless script by Scott Frank that is chock full of wit, intelligence, emotional insight, and a gentle good humor. The performances here are uniformly excellent, particularly that of Dianne Wiest as a fellow, adult genius whose remarkable brains don't extend to a self-knowledge of her own fragile egotism and bitterness. Foster is less convincing as a blue-collar hausfrau if only because her innate taste and astuteness tend to shine through her slightly underdeveloped role (a brief sojourn for her character in Florida also smacks of narrative artifice, the script needing for her to leave the stage momentarily). These are the few minor flaws in a structurally air-tight, compelling, and utterly satisfying film, proving that Woody Allen and his Manhattan stomping grounds don't have the market cornered on the presentation of brilliant, funny, and absorbing human entertainment. Little Man Tate is a charming film destined to be discovered with delight by weekend cable TV viewers and video rental seekers willing to try something different. Frank found less fertile artistic ground for his next three films, all of them dark crime thrillers, Dead Again (1991), Final Analysis (1992), and Malice (1993). It was only when he returned to material with an underpinning of sly humor that his work began earning the label of "modern classic" again, with such films as Get Shorty (1995) and Out of Sight (1998). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Debi Mazar - Gina; P.J. Ochlan - Damon Wells; George Plimpton - Winston F. Buckner; Alexandra Auder - Eddie's Girlfriend; John Bell - Joey X.; Ishe Costa - Cherry Reynolds; Richard Fredette - Bartender; Elizabeth Frietsch - "Livewire" Girl Guest; Gordon Greene - Fred's Doctor; Richard Hanson - 1st Odyssey of the Mind Leader; Michael Keavey - Auctioneer; Carolyn Lawrence - Sorority Girl; Alex Lee - Fred Tate-Age 2; Nathan Lee - Matt's Teammate; Mark Lienhart - Fenton; Michael Mantell - Coral Bay Owner; Ellen McElduff - Make-Up Woman; Adam Midkiff - Evan; Chucky Ocampo - Bob Yee; Sheadrick Richards - "Livewire" Boy Guest; Michael Shulman - Matt Montini; Lauren Ashley Stacey - Valerie; Erica Staton - Girl Outside Classroom; Jennifer Trier - Grierson Institute Teacher; Danitra Vance - Clinic Doctor; Celia Weston - Miss Nimvel; Barry Williams - Preppy Guy in Cafeteria; Sam Womelsdorf - Eddie's Roommate; Mar Ya Zuke - 2nd Odyssey of the Mind Leader; Bob Balaban - Quizmaster (uncredited); Josh Mostel - Physics Professor; George Kaufman - Eddie's Friend
Credit
Adam Lustig - Art Director, Avy Kaufman - Casting, Lina Todd - Casting, Giorgio Armani - Costume Designer, Susan Lyall - Costume Designer, Mike Topoozian - First Assistant Director, Joe Camp III - First Assistant Director, Jodie Foster - Director, Peggy Rajski - Second Unit Director, Lynzee Klingman - Editor, Randy Stone - Executive Producer, Michael Williams - Location Manager, Mark Isham - Composer (Music Score), Julie Hewett - Makeup, Martin Schaer - Camera Operator, Jon Hutman - Production Designer, Mike Southon - Cinematographer, Carol Cuddy - Production Manager, Peggy Rajski - Producer, Scott Rudin - Producer, Samara Schaffer - Set Designer, Douglas Axtell - Sound/Sound Designer, Reinhard Schreiner - Sound Editor, Joanna Jimenez - Sound Editor, Mark "Frito" Long - Sound Recordist, Charlie Croughwell - Stunts, Gary Jensen - Stunts, Christine Baur - Stunts Coordinator, Scott Frank - Screenwriter, Shannon Kemp - Production Assistant, Kris Nielsen - Production Assistant, Steven E. Williams - Production Assistant, Anthony Janelli - Second Unit Camera, Lawrence Jordan - Additional Editing, Henry Cline - First Assistant Camera, Holly Heinzmann - First Assistant Camera, Jack English - Gaffer, Derek E. Wells - Grip, Tom Carlson - Music Editor, David Goldblatt - Musical Performer, Ken Kugler - Musical Performer, Sid Page - Musical Performer, Kurt Wortman - Musical Performer, Mary F. Jansen - Post Production Supervisor, Lisa Bradley - Production Coordinator, Barry Franenberg - Properties Master, Gregg Landaker - Re-Recording Mixer, Michael Minkler - Re-Recording Mixer, Mary Cybulski - Script Supervisor, Greg Jacobs - Second Assistant Director, Suzanne Hanover-Fowler - Still Photographer, Norval D. Crutcher Jr. - Supervising Sound Editor, Catherine Wall - Costume/Wardrobe, Norto Sepulveda - ADR Editor, Bob Deschaine - ADR Mixer, Charleen Richards - ADR Mixer, Juliet A. Polcsa - Assistant Costumer Designer, Deirdre Costa - Assistant Location Manager, Richard Bioni - Assistant Properties, Norval D. Crutcher III - Assistant Sound Editor, Mark Phillips - Assistant Sound Editor, James Babineaux - Best Boy Electric, Eric Whitehead - Best Boy Grip, Alex Smith - Camera Loader, Erich W. Schultz - Construction Coordinator, Taryn Walsh - Costumes Assistant, Elizabeth Feldbauer - Costumes Supervisor, Kent Jorgensen - Dolly Grip, George Chappel - Electrician, Jeff De La Rosa - Electrician, Quincy Koenig - Electrician, Daniel Schalk - First Assistant Editor, Alicia Stevenson - Foley Artist, Dan O'Connell - Foley Artist, Amy Vincent - Second Assistant Camera, Mike McCue - Second Second Assistant Director, Dwain Wilson - Set Dresser, J. Todd Anderson - Storyboard Artist, Joel Griffith - Storyboard Artist, Pat Stubbs - Transportation Captain, Fleet Eakland - Transportation Coordinator, Larce Crawford - Construction Foreman, Greg Orloff - Foley Mixer, Gary Burritt - Negative Cutter, Harry Jarvis - Third Assistant Director, Kevin P. Boyd - Video Assist, Steve Irwin - Video Playback, Phill Norman - Title Design, Beth Bernstein - Art Department Coordinator
Little Man Tate is a 1991motion picture which tells the story of Fred Tate, a 7-year-old child prodigy who struggles to self-actualize in a social and psychological construct that largely fails to accommodate his intelligence. Jodie Foster (who also directed) plays Fred’s mother Dede, who attempts to give her son a “normal” childhood while simultaneously feeding his intellectual curiosity. The film marked Foster’s directorial debut. Most of the film was shot in downtown Cincinnati. Other locations include Cincinnati suburb Clifton, the Village of Indian Hill, Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and the Wexner Center in Columbus, Ohio. The movie grossed about $25 million.[1]
Tagline: It's not what he knows. It's what he understands.
The title character of this film is the source of Michigan football quarterback Tate Forcier's nickname. He was named Robert Patrick Forcier at birth, but according to a story related by Brent Musberger during the October 10, 2009 Michigan-Iowa game telecast, Forcier's father thought his then-infant son reminded him of the movie character and has called him "Little Man Tate" ever since.
