Search - Little Man Tate on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG Content Advisory: Excellent For Children, Profanity Movie Release: 1991 DVD Release: 09/04/2001 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English, French, Spanish Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 39 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 8 Genres: Drama, Family Drama, Childhood Drama

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

Jodie Foster - Dede Tate
Adam Hann-Byrd - Fred Tate
Dianne Wiest - Dr. Jane Grierson
Harry Connick, Jr. - Eddie
David Hyde Pierce - Garth

MGM serves up a fine transfer on Little Man Tate -- a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen picture that is nearly flawless. The colors look extremely bright and bold with no fading present, and black levels are solidly dark. Though there are slight imperfections in the picture, these are minimal and don't detract from the viewer's enjoyment of the movie. Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and is a passable mix for a film that is not very heavy in directional sound. While dialogue, effects, and music are all clear and concise, the main surround feature on this track comes from composer Mark Isham's upbeat jazz score. Also included are French and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround mixes, as well as French- and Spanish-language subtitles. Though =Little Man Tate is not jam-packed with extra features, it does include a commentary track by star/director Jodie Foster. The track is thoroughly enjoyable, with Foster sounding chatty and excited about her first feature film. While there are a few gaps of silence, overall the track moves along briskly, with behind-the-scenes stories and interesting nuggets of information about the production. Also included is an original theatrical trailer for Little Man Tate. While this is not the most expansive DVD on the market, the video, audio, and supplemental portions of the disc make this well above average and a good buy for fans. ~ Patrick Naugle, All Movie Guide