Rocket Science

With another entry in the "coming of age" category, I really was pleasantly surprised to find--if not an original--a deeply-felt, honest portrayal of the trials of adolescence. The strongest aspects were the performances from the entire cast with Anna Kendrick and Vincent Piazza being standouts. Of course, the fine work of Reese Thompson will be rewarded by the praise he deserves (and hopefully awarded).

But this deeply personal film has many fine moments, both hysterically funny and painfully revealing. Because it refuses to be predictable--even in the final moments--I believe it will stand above other films of this genre. A well chosen score will keep it from becoming dated. It's never glib towards a range "bent" characters, and chooses to leave the smart remarks for the characters and not the film itself. Despite the subject of repressed anger and expressed rage, there's a sweetness that avoids the sentimental.

Clearly Jeffery Blitz needed to tell this story. And I hope he has many more for us in the future.

One of last years best scripts and a breakout performance from the natural Reece Thompson ensures Rocket Science is up on 2007's biggest sleepers list. Unlike the overrated Juno, Jeffrey Blitz's stimulating screenplay hardly ever rings hollow, despite the fact some of these high schooler's made that pregnant whippersnapper sound like a three year old. Here though, as unrealistically hyper-articulate as this high school debate team, indie-romance styled dramedy feels, Blitz possesses the rare ability to seamlessly merge it with a whole bunch of tender awkwardness and create something far superior then a wit-fest.

Encapsulating this neurotic whimsy is the gifted Thompson (amongst other very well casted performances) who like a younger, more accessible Jason Schwartzman, takes an annoyingly exploited trait of stuttering unease and mines it into a tender, thoughtful coming of age characterization that should inspire even the most cynical of introverts.

Littered with scene after scene of a simply far more perceptive quirk then what Hollywood's continuously dumbed-down interpretations of independent film used to be, Rocket Science blasts off with personality and style to spare.

Rocket Science is essentially a movie about a boy who discovers his worth and abilities throughout his furious campaign for his dreams. The film's mood pushes the limit of tongue- in-cheek, and it is certainly felt as a comedy because after all, the premise is a stuttering boy joining a debate team, but despite all the hilarious non sequiturs and plot-driven laughs, I take that essential theme to heart. Hal Heffner is an innocently gawky young high school kid, portrayed in a should-be career-making performance by Reece Thompson, who has a severe stuttering problem and experiences a change of events that he finds to have had a tempestuous emotional effect on him that I'm just dying to give away but won't. From this point on, we share those emotions, because it's nearly impossible not to throw in all your chips for this kid. The reason is because growing up, frankly, is hard. Once one has done it, one doesn't feel like it was as hard as it was, but at the time, it most definitely was. Watching this film, we watch this naive stuttering boy crippled by inhibitions and shyness mature, reaching the extremes of anger, confusion, love, intellectual growth, and introspection.

There are plenty of movies about high school, and they're full of comeuppance, humor targeted for that age, discovery of sex, et cetera, but there is very very rarely a movie like Rocket Science, a movie about that particular time in your life when you were just growing into yourself and you didn't even know it, and you hardly look back at that time because of the unawareness of self at that point and, hopefully, the growth since then. This is an important little film that, though it isn't receiving the attention I feel it would and should get with a wider and longer release, time will be kind to, with great hope.

I saw this movie earlier this year at a preview screening. The cool thing was that I had no Idea what it was about, I didn't even look it up for a plot outline. I was extremely pleasantly surprised. It was a very good movie, definitely worth seeing. The soundtrack was extremely fitting to the theme of the film as well. It turns out from some of the comments I have read here, some people just do not like this film. I cannot find a reason for that. I have noticed that with the younger crowd, this movie seems to not be as popular as others. This movie is very linear when it comes to how things really are. You can relate to several main characters and their struggles in life. If you are expecting a slapstick, non realistic comedy with tons of shock value, go and watch Wedding Crashers (which I love by the way). If you want to see a movie with intelligent dialogue with a good message and great acting, go and see Rocket Science. My rating 10.

This film is simply astounding, in my opinion. The acting is top notch as well as the soundtrack, writing, editing, and photography.

I'll start with the general story:

Hal Heffner (Reece Thompson) is just an ordinary , no frills high-school kid who happens to have a severe stutter. He has a some-what broken home life, living with his older, bullying, thief of a brother, Earl (Vincent Piazza). Their parents don't get along so well... Hal has a difficult time dealing with his stutter in school as well as general daily life. He is especially shy. Well... Hal is approached by the school Debate Team Star, Ginny Ryerson (Anna Kendrick) and she entices Hal into joining the Plainsboro High Debate Team. Hal develops a fondness for Ginny and desperately attempts to be closer with her. Hilarity Ensues...

The Acting in this film is nothing but astonishing. Reece does an incredible job of balancing his lines and creating a very convincing stuttering problem. Not only this, but the jokes he has to carry out are low-key and very natural. The very impressive fast-paced and garbled speech that Anna and Nicholas D'Agosto (Ben in the film), as well as the other debaters in the film have to employ is incredible. According to Jeff Blitz, real debaters speak faster, but the Actors/Actresses had to slow their speech so that everything was intelligible. Every player in this film speaks so naturally and fluently that the jokes are not obvious. They require thought, despite their beautiful simplicity. If you know Wes Anderson films, you know what I am talking about.

Speaking of the Writing, it is, once again, amazing. The love story that this film illustrates is a very different type of love story. It takes the genre and flips it upside-down at every turn. This trend also emanates in all other facets of the film as well. Just when your mind thinks one thing is going to happen, something unexpected happens. This film is very unpredictable, which is very nice as this film does not follow the fairy tales that are so common in film today.

Rocket Science is also just beautiful looking. The film was made predominately in the Baltimore Area. The crew did a most convincing job of turning South East Baltimore into Trenton, NJ and turning the suburbs of MD into those of NJ. As a Dundalk resident myself, I can testify.

The editing is also innovative in that it employed its fitting soundtrack into the cutting. The music will fire up to match the sequence and then pause to let a key moment carry itself out, and then pick up right where it left off. Speaking of the music, The Violent Femmes are all over the place and their songs of Love Angst match perfectly with the entire flow and story of the film.

All in all, this film was a most enjoyable experience. The laughs I had are unforgettable and the emotions that I felt watching Hal chase his dreams really tapped into me. Its a realistic film with a slight neurotic sitcom twist to it. Jeff Blitz is simply brilliant and it shows in this work. Reese has a most bright future and will be fully discovered once this film hits.

For a truly uplifting, however, realistic experience that will certainly make you laugh and impress as well, go see Rocket Science when it releases on August 10th.

-Daniel J. Carlin-Weber