579. Rocket Science (2007)

Starring: Reece Thompson, Anna Kendrick, Nicholas D’Agosto

Director: Jeffrey Blitz

Running Time: 101 mins

Rocket Science is an American film about a high school boy, with a very pronounced stutter, who joins up to the school’s debating team in an attempt to get close to a girl he has fallen in love with, and during his time in the team, he learns a whole lot about his life.

I wouldn’t like to dispel this as boring, but it’s not very engaging. Average seems to be the only word that I can describe it as. At points, it can be quite funny and charming, but it’s not hilarious or fun, and it’s often partly inspiring, however is again not enough so to really pull you into the story.

I think the main strength of this film is the central performance by Reece Thompson. Playing a boy with big dreams who is hampered by a stutter he can do nothing about is a difficult role to take on, and while his representation of the boy’s physical aspects is spot on, he also manages to touch you by making the character brilliantly relatable.

Also, the style of the film is very good. Taking on some very Wes Anderson-esque techniques, this is a quirky and punchy comedy-drama that doesn’t intend to make you wet yourself with laughter, but teach you about a story that’s both inspiring and depressing while intending to entertain you.

However, that was probably the main problem with this film for me: it wasn’t that entertaining. I understand the fact that it’s not a laugh-out-loud comedy, however it’s never really that fun to watch, and while, if you liked something like Submarine, it is possible to be entertained, but it’s on the whole not engaging enough.

Finally, the screenplay’s pretty poor. The characters’ actions were not consistent enough, and felt very random at some points, which became more annoying than anything by the end, and that took away the entertainment for me, so that’s why it gets a 6.9 from me.