LITTLE MAN TATE (1991)

LITTLE MAN TATE (PG) Fred Tate (Adam Hann-Byrd), who's only 7, can solve mind- bending math problems in a minute, can play the piano like a maestro. More than that, he's philosophically advanced-he's got ulcers from contemplating world problems like the vanishing ozone layer. Yet his precocious intellect can't win him the thing he longs for most: a friend. Little Man Tate, the first film directed by Jodie Foster, sounds touching and clever, like a pint- size Rain Man. There are moments when the spectacle of a wide-eyed young genius who longs to be just like other kids will strike a chord in anyone who ever spent a lonely day in grade school. Foster, though, never really dramatizes Fred's intelligence: He just seems like a very serious little boy. And so the whole premise of the movie-that Fred's sci-fi intellect has made it impossible for him to connect with other kids-remains a hollow conceit. C+

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