Little Man Tate

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 ...more

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 ...more