It Ain't...: Opinionated Movie Comment #5

Rocket Science (2007), Reece Thompson, Vincent Piazza, Anna Kendrick, Nicholas d’Agosto, Aaron Yoo, Utkarsh Ambudkar; dir. Jeffrey Blitz
Jeffrey Blitz first caught the film world’s attention in 2002, with his documentary Spellbound, an examination of eight competitors (I almost wrote “players,” but this is no mere game) in the national Scripps-Howard spelling bee. That film had more drama (and comedy) than many big-budget Hollywood films, and characters no fiction writer could have written with receiving accusations of unreality. Five years later, he brought us Rocket Science. Both feature young adults on a stage, competing against one another in battles judged by adults, not by peers. Both show us young people consumed with ambition and self-doubt. Both show us characters forced to look into themselves and grow. And though one is fiction and the other documentary, both are true. Rocket Science opens with a debate—and what a debate! Forensic debate, high-speed, ridiculous verbal fluency, argument and counter-argument. But it comes suddenly to a screeching stop, almost a stutter. And stuttering is important in this film—or rather verbal shutdown. Hal Hefner, our hero is a very, very smart lad, but he seems unable to speak. He also has another problem: He has a crush on Ginny Ryerson, the debate team star, and she has absolutely zero interest in him. Until, that is, she invites him to join the team. This movie is likable for several reasons: The people who populate the movie are real—no teen movie (or Teen Movie) beautiful people here. No one is ugly or acne-ridden or deformed; they just aren’t beautiful. Blitz and his cast created some fantastic characterization, particularly in Hal’s awful older brother Earl. There is some great toying with music, particularly pop tunes, for comic effect. The Violent Femmes have never been so slick, nor so clever. But in the end, this is a coming-of-age movie—warm, painful, heartwrenching, heartwarming, and true. (Image ©2007 HBO Films)