Rocket Science
by Jeffrey Blitz
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Anna Kendrick, Candace Scholz, Nicholas D'Agosto, Reece Daniel Thompson, Utkarsh AmbudkarDirector: Jeffrey Blitz
Brand: RocketScience
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 101 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-01-29
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: HBO Home Video
Product features:
- Picturehouse and HBO Films present a story about Hal Hefner, an ordinary, shy 15 year-old boy who's struggling to make it through High School. On top of his parents' recent divorce and an obsessive- compulsive, kleptomaniac older brother, Hal has a stuttering problem. In spite of this speech impediment, the high school debate team star, Ginny Ryerson, invites Hal to join the team. Stumbling his wa
Movie Reviews of Rocket Science
Movie Review: "To discover opportunity in misery."
Summary: 5 Stars
The word "pathetic" may be defined as "causing or evoking pity, sympathetic sadness, and sorrow." This would be an accurate depiction of fifteen-year-old Hal Hefner's life. He is a short, homely, and socially inept teen; he stutters so badly that he cannot even ask for the food he wants in the school cafeteria; his parents break up after a bitter fight; his older brother is a petty thief and bully who threatens him constantly; his mother takes up with a Korean judge who has a braying laugh and gropes Mom in public. For a short while, Hal spots a glimmer of light on his otherwise bleak horizon. Ginny Ryerson, star of his high school debate team, recruits him to replace her partner, who suffered a sudden meltdown. She proceeds to spend a great deal of time preparing Hal for the rigors of public speaking. How can this boy, who can barely say his own name, make it as a champion debater? Even more troubling, Hal falls in love with Ginny, and he allows himself to believe that maybe she cares for him as well.
Jeffrey Blitz, who wrote and directed this quirky film, thumbs his nose at conventional movies about dysfunctional teenagers. You know the drill: Nerdy kid is teased unmercifully and hides in a janitor's closet to escape his miserable existence. Suddenly, he has the chance of a lifetime to show everyone his true worth. He rises to the occasion and demonstrates that he had star potential all along. The icing on the cake is that he gets the beautiful girl to recognize his inner hunk, as well. As if.
Blitz doesn't buy into this ridiculous fantasy. Instead, he mines Hal's predicament for belly laughs. See Hal looking decidedly uncool while schlepping a suitcase with wheels to school every day; see Hal burying his face under his pillow as he cringes while his mother loudly makes love to her new beau; see Hal fantasizing about "going to the next level" with Ginny, a girl who is clearly out of his league. Each of us, whether or not we have a physical or emotional impediment, can relate to Hal's suffering. We have all felt humiliated in front of our peers at one time or another. We have all longed for that handsome or beautiful student across the room, who is obviously too good for us. Most of us have wanted to trade in our parents for more respectable models. Although Hal doesn't have that life-changing epiphany that brings a tear to the moviegoer's eye, he gradually learns to stand up for himself. Even though Hal's rebellion proves to be largely ineffectual, the fact that he worked up the nerve to fight back helps this confused and lonely young man come to the realization that he is not worthless, and that if he hangs in there long enough, life might conceivably get a little better.
If you see this movie for no other reason, go to marvel at Reece Thompson's impeccable portrait of the bumbling Hal. Not only does Thompson stutter believably (not easy), but he performs perfect pratfalls, and somehow evokes compassion for a character who could easily have been merely lamentable and wretched. Anna Kendrick is excellent as Ginny Ryerson, an upper class brainiac who is as manipulative and cruel as she is self-centered. Steve Park is a hoot as Judge Pete, the new squeeze who aggressively romances Hal's mom, much to her sons' discomfiture. Nicholas D'Agosto is impressive in a small but pivotal role as Ben Wekselbaum, a handsome and brilliant teenager with so much potential that he has nowhere to go but down.
"Rocket Science" is an original, touching, and bittersweet coming-of-age film about Hal's excruciating and hilarious transition from child to adult. As we watch our hero struggle and root for him to get a life, we come to a sudden realization. Not everyone can be a winner in the conventional sense, and nice guys often do finish last. Sometimes just surviving from one day to the next is a major triumph of sorts; for some people, patience is not just a virtue but it is also a necessary tactic for staying optimistic while waiting for that elusive silver lining to appear.
Summary of Rocket Science
ROCKET SCIENCE - DVD MovieThe 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
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