Tadpole

Tadpole (2002) is Gary Winick's slim indie comedy, and you can watch it online on iFILM. It runs a tidy 78 minutes and packs all of one bookish teenager's misplaced longing into a single Thanksgiving weekend.

Oscar Grubman is sixteen, fluent in French, and quotes Voltaire over dinner. Girls his own age bore him. The woman he actually wants is Eve, his own stepmother, played by Sigourney Weaver. He comes home from boarding school determined to tell her — and instead spends a night with Eve's best friend Diane (Bebe Neuwirth), which sends the whole holiday sideways. John Ritter plays his bewildered father.

Shot on digital video in about two weeks, the film took the directing prize at Sundance. Nothing explodes here; the comedy lives in awkward pauses and overheard confessions. It lands best with anyone who likes quiet, talky Manhattan stories about growing up too fast. Stream Tadpole (2002) online on iFILM.