On DVD: ROCKET SCIENCE (Jeffrey Blitz, 2007)

Hal Hefner (Reece Thompson) is a simple high school student, just going about his life. Except for one thing. He goes about his life with a terrible stutter. And that's why Ginny Ryerson (Anna Kendrick) recruits him to be her debate team partner after the talented Ben Wekselbaum (Nicholas D'Agosto) "loses his voice." What follows is a sublime coming-of-age tale about teenage love and politics.

With Rocket Science, this continues a little trend I unwittingly had with watching little indie quirk movies, which began with Phil Morrison's Junebug (a must-see for Amy Adams's incredible performance alone) and continued with Tamara Jenkins's The Savages (reviewed below). I had listened to Jason Reitman's audio commentary during Up In The Air and said that he actually wrote the character of Natalie Keener for Anna Kendrick after seeing her in this film, and wholeheartedly recommended Rocket Science, so I just had to see it for myself.

It turns out, I really dug the flick. Director Jeffrey Blitz really does have a love for the characters, and it shows. Kendrick's Ginny Ryerson is fantastic, and she really does give it her all here, and I can really see why Reitman casted her in Up In The Air, as she truly is a fine a young talent, as well as securing a spot on my Movie Crushes list. I was sometimes reminded of Reese Witherspoon's Tracy Flick character from Alexander Payne's Election, and that's a good thing.

As for the other aspects of the movie, Reece Thompson also give a great stuttering performance as the insecure Hal Hefner, and the soundtrack, from the original compositions to the symphonic Violent Femmes, is also great. And freakin' catchy. Christ. I can't get the goddamn main theme outta my head.

Of course, this being a "quirk" flick, there are those moments of quirk. And we really have seen it all before. But that really shouldn't detract from the overall judgment of the film. Also, I'd like the point out the use of third-person narration. I'll let ya in on a little secret here, but I am a SUCKER for a third-person narrator, and that's what added to my enjoyment of this movie, along with Todd Field's Little Children and Andrew Dominik's The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Oscar Winner Sandra Bullock, I mean, By The Coward Robert Ford.

BOTTOM LINE: Rocket Science is a highly enjoyable little coming-of-age flick, which is only boosted by Anna Kendrick's searing performance and Reece Thompson's stutter, as well as clever writing. It also runs at a nice, brisk pace.
Buy Rocket Science on DVD.