Rocket Science

ROCKET SCIENCE - DVD Movie

The first fiction film from Jeffrey Blitz has nothing to do with aeronautical engineering and everything to do with finding your voice. For 15-year-old New Jersey-based Hal Hefner (Reece Thompson), that’s a tall order. He’s bright, but he stutters. To complicate matters, his parents are on the outs and his brother, Earl (the droll Vincent Piazza), is a bully. Just when he needs a guardian angel most, one materializes in his midst. Self-possessed schoolmate Ginny (Camp's Anna Kendrick) sees something in Hal no one else does. She's convinced he'll make a terrific debate team partner, so she recruits him. Unaccustomed to female attention, he opts to give it a try. Turns out, there's more to Ginny than meets the eye, but there's also more to Hal. When she double-crosses the lovelorn lad, he finds a brilliant way to get her back. It isn't about revenge, but self-respect. In Blitz's Oscar-nominated documentary Spellbound, the action revolves around the National Spelling Bee, but the director demonstrates greater interest in his subjects than the outcome of the contest. With its absurdist tone, Rocket Science may look different, but follows a similar trajectory. Unlike The Karate Kid and other teen favorites where an outcast triumphs over adversity and gets the girl, things aren't so simple in this case. As with its hero, Rocket Science can be awkward--there are too many subplots--but the throwaway gags, most involving Hal's buddy, Lewis (Josh Kay), are priceless, and Eef Barzelay's ukelele-based score is a nice touch. --Kathleen C. Fennessy