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Teenager Oscar 'Tadpole' Grubman (Aaron Stanford) is so precocious his friends think he's "a 40-year-old trapped in a 15-year-old's body". A fan of 18th century philosopher Voltaire, a fluent French speaker, and a hopeless romantic who believes in love, Oscar is wise beyond his years.

He's also madly in love with his stepmother, Eve (Sigourney Weaver). But before you can shout "Mrs Robinson", her best friend Diane (Bebe Neuwirth) beds him in a moment of drunken confusion. Distraught, Oscar begs her not to tell Eve about their one-night stand before he gets to declare his love...

In the tradition of "The Graduate" and "Rushmore", raging hormones govern this bittersweet coming-of-age comedy. Desperate to convince Eve of his love, even if it means growing sideburns with the help of his best friend's dog (wait till you see the film), Oscar is the perfect symbol of teenage romanticism run amok.

Aaron Stanford - last seen as Pyro in "X-Men 2" - plays Oscar for all he's worth (even though the actor is actually 23!). He quotes Voltaire with a preppie arrogance, orders waiters about in French, and anxiously tries to avoid the clutches of devil-may-care Diane.

As the reluctant Mrs Robinson, Weaver finds exactly the right balance between sexual allure and cold distance. But it's Bebe Neuwirth (once Frasier's wife in Cheers) who steals the show, a walking time bomb of sexual impropriety who promises not to say anything about their liaison ("Just don't let me drink!"), yet ultimately can't help herself because she's just as smitten with Oscar as he is with his stepmother.

Full of the quirky East Coast charm of "The Royal Tenenbaums" and "Igby Goes Down", Gary Winick's film isn't in quite the same league - not least because its digital format is distinctly rough around the edges. But it's a delightful little comedy, all the same.