Rocket Science

I'm surprised that this film elicits so many negative reviews here. I enjoyed reading the rant by the guy who spells cello "chello." I think that pretty much explains it. Literacy will be required to appreciate this movie.

This has to be the best dialog in any film ever made with a stutterer as a central character.

I found the performances letter-perfect; not a false note anywhere. This is a movie where even the bit parts are played by well-cast actors, not producers' pretty boyfriends or girlfriends. I loved the girl in the washroom with the nosebleed, for example. Perfect.

Rushmore did not come to mind while I watched this film, nor did any of the other "quirky" films named here by other reviewers. But I did think of it as a companion piece to "Welcome to the Dollhouse." Both set in NJ, and both with central characters at the bottom of their school social ranking, and coping with their realities better than one would think.

I particularly liked the relationship between adults and kids in this film. The adults (parents and teachers) are wise about the kids, and the kids are just as wise about the adults. The tone was just right.

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.

The entire time I was watching rocket science, I was gob smacked by the performances of the entire cast, but in particular Anna Kendrick and Nicholas D'Agosto. Their performances were unlike anything I've seen in years!!! I think it's difficult to portray a character that you hate and love quite like Anna has done in this movie, and even now.. I'm still wondering..? but mostly it's love ;)

Seriously, for the last 2 decades or so, Hollywood has been lacking the ability to produce anything that even resembles 'originality' and usually just chews up and spits out a recombination of 3 or 4 stories that have been told time and time again..... and for that reason alone, there'll probably be one or two people that won't even appreciate this movie because its not that run of the mill crap they're used too.

But honestly, whoever put together the cast of this movie deserves a massive pat on the back. I cannot think of another name that could have fit the profile of these characters so perfectly!

I question how the hell it got the 'R' rating however?? Come on, its language and sexuality content was on par with 'Lost in Translation'.. What the? Whether you're 25 or 12, watch this movie by yourself with no distractions and no one to influence your reactions and you will LOVE this movie, it's very clever. I recommend it highly!

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.