The Michigan Daily- Thursday, October 17, 1991 - Page 7 Jodie, as director, fosters an Einstein Little Man Tate dir. Jodie Foster By Aaron Hamburaer J odie Foster stars and makes her di- recting debut with the new movie, Little Man Tate. Foster keeps her film humming along beautifully until the very end when, with less than a minute left, a downhill turn threatens to sink everything. Thanks to the strength of the rest of the film, however, Little Man Tate does succeed. The movie tells the story of Fred Tate (Adam Hann-Byrd), a seven- year-old genius who draws like Da Vinci, writes poetry like Shake- speare and solves physics problems like Einstein. Fred's unique abilities isolate him from children his own age, as seen poignantly when Fred invites his entire class to his birth- day party and no one shows up. The only person in the whole world who cares about Fred is his working-class mother, Dede, played by Foster. To help her son max- imize his amazing potential, Dede enlists the help of Jane (Dianne Wiest), a child psychologist who runs a school for prodigies like Fred. Jane introduces Fred to a world of knowledge he'd never dreamed of. It turns out that Jane was once a child prodigy herself, and although she's brilliant, she doesn't under- stand the world of emotion. Ulti- mately the conflict emerges be- tween the head, represented by Jane, and the heart, represented by Dede, and the film opts for a compromise between the two. The script, by Scott Frank, who wrote the feeble Dead Again, blows hot and cold. The dialogue works well, for the most part, and there are some inspired sequences, such as when Fred interacts with other child prodigies. However, Frank does his script a real disservice with * his characterization, or rather, cari- caturization of Jane, who seems more like a Hollywood convention than a real person. The atrocious ending embodies everything that is wrong with Hollywood screen- writing today. Frank's script for Dead Again had a similar problem. Instead of resolving his scripts' conflicts realistically, Frank tacks on a phony ending borrowed from a million other conventional movies. The best thing about Tate is the superb performances. Foster's work here as Dede Tate is on a par with her captivating performance in Silence of the Lambs. Dede not only loves her son, she fawns over him. All of her hopes and dreams have failed. The only thing Dede has going for her is Fred, whose intelligence she admires but can't fathom. Though Wiest cannot com- pletely overcome the weaknesses of her clich6d character, at least she makes Jane palatable. The casting of the charismatic Harry Connick Jr. in the small role of a friendly father figure is quite effective. As another See TATE, Page 8 Virginal, he's not Bob Mould, the ultimate guitar- meister since his Hsker days, fi-- nally plays Detroit solo, like he's always wanted to. But, ha-ha, it's at miniscule Alvin's, where you can spit on the stage from the door or take a flyin' leap and land on Bob's lap. Mould -sans record deal since Virgin dropped him this spring (Janet Jackson is appar- ently more artistically important), and without a manager to boot - will be playing solo and acoustic, just like the killer set he did at the Blind Pig last spring. You wanna see raw emotion flow through gui- tar strings? Go to this show. In fact, you can catch Mould twice tonight: doors open for the first show at 9 p.m., and for the second at midnight. Tickets for each show are $12.50 in advance at TicketMaster (p.e.s.c.). i I I A sophisticated musical about a misguided search for the perfect mate Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim Book by George Furth Musical Theatre Program Mendelssohn Theatre Oct. 17 -19 at 8 PM Oct. 20 at 2 PM Student tickets $6 with ID at the League Ticket Office I I The U-M School of Music *1 I I' f PROCTER & GAMBLE O" O dp i J o _ YOUR CHOICE COUPON= 5) mma& &W -77, ,y4a . ;/ OVA MICHIGAN UNION (LOWER LEVEL ) 665-2034 DINE IN OR CARRY OUT M VALUABLE COUPON =|VALUABLE COUPON PURCHASES UNDERGRADUATE RECRUITING LS&A (All Backgrounds Welcom BBA 1st & 2nd year students ie) BABY Double Slie, PAN! Crazy Crust PAN!-& a 16 oz. soft drink & a 16 oz. soft drink $ 259 **-2...9 Plus Tax Ils a Two adorable individual-sized pan pizzas vlth chleeseI and pepperoni for one low price, Valid only with~ Valid only with coupon at participating Little f coupon at participating ttle Caesars Pizza Stations. Caesars Pizza Stations. t Expires 10/30/91 U-M1 Expires 10/30/91 U-M 2 TWO SMALL CHEESE PIZZAS $ 99 Plus Tax YOUR CHOICE: "o"^" Tf"W* " ONE OF EACH! " PAN!PAN!'Vf " PIZZA!PIZZA!@ Valid only with coupon at participating Little Caesars Pizza Stations. 'Excludes extra cheese. (-~ Expires 10/30/91 U'M13 'I I tI I I I I FRIDAY, October 18 Presentation I Presentation II 2:00 pm-3:00 4:00 pm-5:00 pm pm MICHIGAN UNION KUENZEL ROOM Presentations will begin with short discussion explaining P&G and Purchases followed by a question and answer session. I I . .. .. .. . - _ _ _ . _ _-. . . _ ..-: :* .. i L _I