Rocket Science (2007)

Finally an American film that is neither utterly predictable nor filmed in the dark. The central performance is a trifle showy in a brilliant way but it is also highly original. Congratulations to those who made this film for persevering with the very subtle twist, possibly the best thing about it. Aren't ambitious women capable of the absolutely terrible? I loved it and it had the same mood (sense of fun), though less stylised, as the glorious Heathers. Why has young Reece not received nominations for his performance or is this film anathema for "Hollywood"? I do hope the more worldly amongst you give this film a chance. It is not just entertainment.

Young people with speech impediments are the ones who have something to say, but have trouble saying it. I should know since I used to have problems saying "f" ,"th", "c" and "s". Maybe that's why I like the quirky, coming-of-age opus, "Rocket Science" and relate to its' hero, Hal Hefner (gawky but likable Reece Daniel Thompson of "Assassination Of A High School President" and "Daydream Nation"), who can't pronounce "pizza" when trying to order a slice, getting fish or some other alternative.Along with his verbal handicap, Hal has to deal with parents being separated (the dad moved out because the mother's an emotional wreck!) and his kleptomaniac bully of a brother Earl (Vincent Piazza, also of "President") while living in New Jersey. Salvation comes in the form fast-talking Virginia "Ginny" Ryerson (spunky Anna Kendrick of "Scott Pilgrim" and "Up in The Air"), an ambitious fellow student who's in the school's debate club.Ginny recruits Hal as her new partner; her last one, equally verbal Ben Wekselbaum (handsome Nicholas D'Agosto) choked during a debate. It seems Hal's on the road to greatness while falling for Ginny, but she betrays him by transferring to another school and joining its' own debate club. High school, ye cruel mistress… Drawing from his own experiences as a stutterer, Jeffrey Blitz (the documentary "Spellbound" and some episodes of "The Office: USA") neatly injects low-key, eccentric humor, teen angst and quiet philosophy into the profound script while directing it. Thompson, as Hal, sweetly embodies thoughtfulness muted, being more mature than his peers, yet his age and speech impediment hinder and relegates him to a ghost. That makes him relatable to anyone has or is currently going through adolescent alienation. Kendrick's perfectly scholar-motivated, yet voluntarily oblivious to her, let alone other people's imperfections.Standouts in the film include Aaron Yoo ("The Wackness", "Nick and Norah's Inflinite Playlist") as Heston, an odd classmate who has a weird (yet not homosexual) attraction towards Hal; Ginny's neighbor Lewis (Josh Kay), who has a giant bra and whose parents get along by playing Violent Femmes tunes (the dad plays the piano, the mom plays the cello and don't be surprised if you hum to the beat) and Jonah Hill ("Cyrus", "Superbad") as a serious junior philosopher who hangs out in the school's library. There's also Denis O'Hare ("True Blood") as Hal's world-weary dad.Though it follows the basic quirkiness that infest a lot of indie comedies, "Rocket Science" stands out with a plot twist and a lead character you can't help but root for.

You know how there are stories that are adversity to triumph, unstable to stable, confused to knowing. This is not a happy story, i sat through all the frustrating bits in the movies, putting my shirt over my head whenever he tried to debate with his enormous stutter, thinking its okay, because I'm gonna see some scenes at the end where he has finally lost his stutter. I didn't. Maybe i had the wrong idea when i watched this movie, i was convinced from start till perhaps the last scene, that i was going to see an inspiring transformation, where i would no longer feel sorry for the kid, and that marred my view on the film. All i could think about during the whole film is not what this kid was talking about, what he was thinking about, but how he was speaking. Its like a movie where the main character looks like a bunyip, all you can think about is this main character looks like a bunyip, and not really what he/she is saying. I was convinced the inevitable transformation was going to be in his speaking patterns so i wasn't particularly interested in his views on love, because I'm sorry, i don't mean to be offensive to anybody but having a speech impediment as BAD as that, is something i couldn't bear to hear for the rest of my life, you have to try and do something about it. I thought thats what this movie was about! Look I'm sure what the kid was saying was important, and meaningful, but i was looking for more blunt changes that were imperative to me saying at the end of the movie, wow that was good. The stutter was a vehicle to portray a message about love when i went through the whole movie thinking it was the opposite, that all the references to love would make him lose his stutter. Not a horrible movie, but after i finished watching it, i felt horrible, Im a bit tired of movie producers thinking 'it will be more meaningful if we deprive the movie of a happy ending'. To be honest, i don't need happy endings, but what i do need is some light. At the end of 'Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind' i was left thinking, despite its lack of a cliché happy ending, that the main characters were not doomed because of it, that they could bounce back from the issues in the movie. I felt at the end of 'Rocket Science' that the kid was never going to get rid of his stutter, and when did his last debate and he turned to the judges and said 'Im killing it right?' that he was in fact, not killing it, he sucked, you can't debate in a musical tone, there was no growth there. Was it that hard to put a happy ending in!?!

I only give this movie 8 stars because there were so many things that were phenomenal! The acting was simply outstanding. The character of Ginny had so much potential if they'd only written the plot to include more scenes with her. There were so many directions this movie could take. After about 1 1/2 hours, when Ben and Hal were in the competition, all of a sudden, the movie took a sharp left turn for nowhereville and left me so angry. Angry at Hal, angry at Ginny, angry at Hal's Dad, but mostly angry and the director. There are a hundred different endings that could have been executed even OK to make this a 10 star movie, but no. If they'd followed the obvious plot and had Ginny and Hal win despite their differences, it would've been generic, but executed so brilliantly that it would have been a great movie. Then, they could've had Hal and Ginny come back together and win the debate, and have her switch back schools or something. Hell, they could've even left their relationship broken or something if only they'd focused more on her character, on how hard it was for her to leave Hal like that. They could've elaborated on the other misfits she tried to get to debate. They could've had Hal and Ben go and beat her, or get second to her, and have a happy ending where they get back together. The kid threw a cello through her window for Christ sake! Everyone watching wants them to be together in the end! And even if they threw out all that, they should've reversed the father scene (although they should have made it better, he was the only bad character in the film) and the pizza scene, and ended it with Hal flawlessly asking for a piece of pizza. Maybe one of those, "what happened afterwords" kind of epilogues on the screen would've been nice. You know, just to make you feel good. I would say the last option, and maybe the best would've been to make the movie significantly longer, and tie up ALL the plot lines in one super-ending that occurred somehow after the state championships. Maybe if they'd made Ginny only a junior, and they had like another year. i don't know. Or they could've had her do the same thing as Ben in state's and then epiphanize about how much she liked Hal. Just anything other than the ending they chose.Overall i feel disappointed, somewhat angry, and somewhat sad. This movie had unbelievable potential and just threw it away. The plot felt remarkably incomplete, with all the plot lines left open, even the "how to deal with life" plot was left open by the poor execution of the final car scene. So... with a 10 star first half of the plot, 0 stars for the second half, 10 stars for acting, 10 stars for filming i averaged that to end up with 7 1/2, and i round up to 8 stars. If you read this far you're a loser but i appreciate it.