All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Average User Score: 7 (6 sources)

Submit Movie Review

Review this film

Tell the world what you think of Rocket Science

Your Score:

reset score

Write Your Review:
When writing your review, remember to keep the language clean.

Submit Review Cancel

brandi1leigh

-1

Agree (0)

Disagree (0)

First off, it's important to note that I teach high school debate. I saw this movie because anything set in the world I love is of interest to me. This film is depressingly accurate in its portrayal of the quirky niche that is high school speech....
[+] Read Full Review

First off, it's important to note that I teach high school debate. I saw this movie because anything set in the world I love is of interest to me. This film is depressingly accurate in its portrayal of the quirky niche that is high school speech. There are lots of small moments for anyone involved in their high school team, including a brief jab at LD debate in a movie dedicated to the policy sphere.

It wasn't the backdrop that made me enjoy the movie. The quirky characters are both lovable and loathsome. Hal, the stuttering protagonist, is pathetic. But, he's understandably pathetic. His embarrassing moments are our embarrassing moments. He's struggling to find his place in his world. Along the way he has to deal with true love, not so true love, divorcing parents, a sadistic, but caring older brother, a self involved therapist, his mother's new boyfriend, and a nerdy, bizarre best friend. Not to mention a peeping pre-teen with nympho parents. Throw in a cameo by Jonah Hill and the movie has some truly delightful moments.

The majority of this movie was highly enjoyable. Funny and poignant, Hal's struggles are heartbreaking, but strangely compelling. Unfortunately, the film doesn't pay out. The last fifteen minutes needed something. I wasn't expecting a miracle. He's a stutterer, he's not going to win the state championship, but this movie sincerely needed some closure. You wanted him to at least find some peace. Instead, you find Hal in virtually the same place he began the movie. Maybe he's a little wiser, but nothings been resolved. The omniscient and condescending narrator implies that he finds what he needs, but that's not enough. There's no satisfaction in being told he's going to be ok someday.

Overall, the majority of the movie is a delight. It's a touching look at a quirky world (that I can verify really exists). While the ending was disappointing, it wasn't a horrible end. So, the movie is enjoyable and definitely worth more than one viewing.

[-] Minimize Review

Report Abuse

Posted sep 1, 2007 3:08 am pt

• [+] Portland Oregonian
  
  91
  A dry, vicious and deeply moving little comedy that sort of takes the structure of a teen sports movie, then undermines that structure at every turn.

  by M. E. Russell | Read Full Review »
• [+] Baltimore Sun
  
  91
  Fresh, funny and unfailingly observant, Rocket Science is a mood-swinging movie about adolescence that lifts audiences' spirits even when its hero is down in the dumps.

  by Michael Sragow | Read Full Review »
• [+] Film Threat
  
  90
  This is one of those films that will either hit it big as an indie crossover like "Little Miss Sunshine," or just make some money and become a film nerd favorite. Either way I recommend you don't miss this awkwardly fun gem.

  by Zack Haddad | Read Full Review »
• [+] TV Guide
  
  88
  Teenage angst and adolescent agony are the stuff of sharp, observant comedy this quirky, wonderfully dry first fiction feature from documentary filmmaker Jeffrey Blitz (Spellbound).

  by Ken Fox | Read Full Review »
• [+] Premiere
  
  88
  As fate would have it, Rocket Science might prove to be the handiwork of a burgeoning cinematic genius.

  by Stephen Saito | Read Full Review »
• [+] The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
  
  88
  The movies have given us plenty of loquacious teenagers - from such fast-talking truants as Ferris Bueller to such overachieving political animals as Tracy Flick ( Election). Hal Hefner is not one of these kids.

  by Jennie Punter | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Sun-Times
  
  88
  I suspect a lot of high school students will recognize elements of real life in the movie, and that the movie will build a following. It may gross as little as "Welcome to the Dollhouse" or as much as "Clueless," but whichever it does, it's in the same league.

  by Roger Ebert | Read Full Review »
• [+] Seattle Post-Intelligencer
  
  83
  An odd charmer with a whisper of autobiography (Blitz makes his film's protagonist a stutterer, just as the director was in school) and it's made even better by young lead actor Reece Thompson.

  by Paula Nechak | Read Full Review »
• [+] Austin Chronicle
  
  78
  There is one absolutely inspired scene in Rocket Science, and for this scene alone, it's pretty much worth the price of admission. It occurs when our hero, Hal (Thompson), an occasionally incoherent teenage stutterer delivers his opening remarks during a high school debate.

  by Toddy Burton | Read Full Review »
• [+] Boston Globe
  
  75
  When it's not opting for whimsy, Rocket Science makes you cringe, which is what's good about it.

  by Ty Burr | Read Full Review »
• [+] The Onion (A.V. Club)
  
  75
  Rocket Science doesn't go too far into Todd Solondz-style mockery, either; though painful to witness at times, Thompson's determination to face his fears--not just of speaking, but of girls, too--is heartbreakingly noble and courageous.

  by Scott Tobias | Read Full Review »
• [+] San Francisco Chronicle
  
  75
  Rocket Science has the makings of either a tragedy or a crowd-pleasing underdog story, but writer-director Jeffrey Blitz instead takes the movie on a different, and ultimately more rewarding, direction.

  by Peter Hartlaub | Read Full Review »
• [+] USA Today
  
  75
  It is smart, witty and blessedly unpredictable.

  by Claudia Puig | Read Full Review »
• [+] New York Daily News
  
  75
  A quirky comedy-drama that gets the bulk of its humor from the well-placed non sequitur. It never seems to be going where you think it is, and that includes its oddly endearing dialogue.

  by Jack Mathews | Read Full Review »
• [+] New York Post
  
  75
  To his credit, Blitz throws in an unexpected twist that delivers a more ambivalent ending than your typical sports movie.

  by Lou Lumenick | Read Full Review »