Director Gary Winik's new film "Tadpole" can be accurately summed up in one volley of dialogue. "It's all very 'The Graduate'," says 15-year-old Oscar's stepmother when she discovers he's slept with her 40-something best friend. "Except that Oscar hasn't graduated!" replies the boy's dad.
Oscar Grubman (Aaron Stanford) is back in uptown Manhattan from his upstate New York private high school to spend Thanksgiving with his father Stanley (John Ritter), a Columbia history professor, and stepmother Eve (Sigourney Weaver). On the train back, he runs into a schoolmate -- Miranda Spear (Kate Mara) -- harboring an obvious crush. But the sensitive, extremely intelligent and Voltaire-obsessed Oscar loves another woman ... his stepmother!
After the holiday dinner, Stanley wants Oscar to walk home Daphne (Alicia Van Couvering), the daughter of another professor. Oscar's not interested, though, and tosses her into a cab and heads to a bar. While stumbling home, he falls into the bed of Eve's life-long friend Diane (Bebe Neuwirth).
{INSERT_RELATED}Now, Oscar's terrified not only that Diane's insignificant other, Phil (Adam LeFevre), will find out, but also that Eve will. Thus ensues endless laughter as Diane appears ready to burst and tell all and Oscar does what he can to stop her.
Regardless, it all comes out and Oscar learns some valuable lessons, etc., etc. In the meantime, there's laughs -- and Voltaire quotes -- galore in this intelligent romantic coming-of-age comedy.
At a mere 78 minutes long and wonderfully witty, "Tadpole" flies past. But it's also got a sad, unrequited adolescent love component. This is to say nothing of the questions raised about why it appears completely OK for a 45-year-old woman to sleep with a 15-year-old boy -- and then introduce him to her similarly lonely friends. Obviously, the film would certainly have a different feel, and plot, if the genders were reversed. (Although in "Pumpkin," another new film, one college-age character is expelled from school for sleeping with a 15-year-old boy -- perhaps this is a new trend).
"Tadpole" opens Fri., Aug. 23 at Landmark's Oriental Theatre.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
