Rocket Science.

My Rating

(out of 5 envelopes):

MPAA Rating: R

Runtime: 101 minutes

Genre: Indie, Comedy, Drama

When my friend took me to see this film, I didn’t know anything about this movie. I’m really glad he took me to see this because I left the theater with one of those happy, satisfied feelings that makes it hard to stop smiling.

This film is about Hal Hefner (Reece Thompson), a stuttering outsider, dealing with his life after his parents separate. When Ginny Ryerson (Anna Kendrick), the star of the debate squad, recruits him to the team to be her partner, Hal must overcome his stuttering problem. He also has to deal with falling in love with Ginny. At the same time that Hal is starting his debate career, his mom begins to date a new man and along with this comes his annoying son. On top of this, Hal constantly has to deal with his older brother, Earl (Vincent Piazza), who is a kleptomaniac. With all these troubles, it’s no surprise that Hal would be frustrated.

This film combines the elements of high school to make it an easy to relate to film. Most normal kids have obstacles, whether it be a stutter or something else, to overcome to figure out who they are. I’ve never been a great speaker, so imagine having doing that with a stutter is terrifying.

Some of my favorite scenes in this Rocket Science were when Hal was trying different methods to overcome is stutter. When Hal’s advisor tells him to try using an accent to stop the stutter, the result is awkward and hilarious. But by far my favorite scene in the movie is when Hal tries to stop stutter by singing his case to the tune of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. You can’t help but crack a smile and laugh at that original idea.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys indie comedies or anyone who is/was a debater. My sister is in debate and she really enjoyed all the small debate related details put in by the director, who is a former debater. But even if you aren’t a debater, you’ll still enjoy this one.

Netflix Page for Rocket Science.