You know, I can’t keep my blood from running cold every time Hollywood contributes more clichéd garbage to the trash heap film genre called ‘coming of age.’ And, most often, my arteries all but turn to icicles each time I force myself to watch one of these movies. But, every so often, an exceptional ‘coming of age’ film does manage to warm my heart. This is rare; I suppose it takes Rocket Science.
This Jeffrey Blitz film is a dark, comedic look at the life of high school misfit, Hal Hefner (Reece Thompson), who’s stuttered speech, dysfunctional family, and loss for finding love prompt him to search for self discovery as an unlikely member of his suburban New Jersey high school debate team. Hal is recruited by his school’s most famous fast-talker, Ginny Ryerson (Anna Kendrick), as a replacement for her old partner, Ben Wekselbaum (Nicholas D'Agosto), who cost Ginny last year’s state debate title. And though his substantial speech impediment would seem to make Hal a hopeless addition to the debate team, he decides to take on the challenge, dreaming to escape his manic family, overcome his self- consciousness, and chase after his true love.
Relatively unknown Reece Thompson is absolutely stellar in this role; his assumed stutter is, shall I say, flawless, and he perfectly captured the balance between the delicate naiveté and desperation which makes Hal a truly captivating character. I was most blown away though by Anna Kendrick’s performance. The intricate, intelligent, and extremely fast-paced dialogue essential to her role as Ginny must have been next to impossible to nail down, but Kendrick delivers the words and projects the genius which generates them perfectly. I sing nothing but praise here for the actress, though I do slight the script writer who obviously flubbed when he failed to edit her monologues for glaring grammatical errors not consistent with her character.
All this is not to say that Rocket Science isn’t without faults. Vincent Piazza’s performance as Hal’s older brother, Earl is annoying at best. Earl is a nervous, sunken eyed ‘organized thief’ who likes to steal things and hoard them away in his room. The audience is supposed to think he’s somewhat disturbed (his dark circles had me convinced I’d find out he was on drugs), yet he swings from Hal’s friend to Hal’s foe in a way that’s even too awkward to befit the bipolar. Most of what results in the dissipated character is probably not the actor’s fault; the director seems to have tried to embody obsessive compulsive disorder in Earl’s character, but Earl’s occasional urge to brush his teeth hardly suffices to do this kind of mania justice, and I was irked by the miserable attempt to understand this chronically misrepresented illness on screen.
All in all, I was very much pleased with Rocket Science. I enjoyed the soundtrack. For the best part, I was impressed by the complexity of the characters and I was pleasantly surprised with the integrity of the script. At times, the film is a little slow and a tad bit far fetched; but Blitz’ attention to detail makes for an engrossing look at the real, the raw, and the romantic.
Liz Licorish
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