Life is not easy for teenager Hal Hefner of suburban Plainsboro, New Jersey. His parents have abruptly split; his older brother, Earl, is a budding obsessive-compulsive who pushes him around; and he has an unpredictable stutter that makes high school an exercise in embarrassment, self-effacement and terrible lunches. Given that his active mind and quick wit tend to be obscured by his problematic voice, Hal is not an obvious candidate for his school's high-powered debate team. So it comes as a complete, though not unwelcome, surprise when the team's star member, the hyper-articulate Ginny Ryerson, approaches Hal on the school bus one afternoon. The Plainsboro debaters need a replacement for Ginny's former partner, who dropped out of school following a calamitous performance at the New Jersey State High School Policy Debate Championships the previous spring. Ginny, who can compress an eight minute argument into ten seconds without breaking a sweat, dropping a word, or botching a barb, proceeds to present her case for Hal's potential as a public speaker. She has seen Hal, she has seen his promise. Hal is more than just shocked, or even dazed; he is smitten. As the notion of debating takes hold in Hal's mind, so, too, do thoughts of the attractive and dazzlingly confident Ginny. Gambling that his voice will cooperate with the rest of him, Hal joins the Plainsboro High debate team as Ginny's partner. Trundling back and forth to her house with his ever-growing pile of research, Hal starts to see new possibilities in his life. The road ahead holds many twists, turns and bumps for Hal; despite his best efforts, people and circumstances prove more unpredictable than any stutter. But Hal rises to the occasion, and in doing so he scores a victory that has nothing to do with winning a debate--and everything to do with finding his voice. - skip ad - Genres: Comedy Running Time: 1 hr. 38 min. Release Date: August 10th, 2007 (limited) MPAA Rating: R for some sexual content and language. Distributor: Picturehouse Cast And Credits Starring: Reece Thompson, Anna Kendrick, Vincent Piazza, Nicholas D'Agosto, Aaron Yoo Directed by: Jeff Blitz Produced by: Effie T. Brown, Sean Welch

Rocket Science" defies the gravity of generic moviemaking and spun an early-morning Sundance audience into ecstatic orbit here. Catapulted by an endearing lead performance by Reece Daniel Thompson as a stuttering high-school student, "Rocket Science" transcends the predictable high-school yarn and arcs into usually unexplored domains of self-discovery and personal growth in a coming-of-age film.

With a quirky, superbly-calibrated screenplay by writer/director Jeffrey Blitz, "Rocket Science" is grounded in the doldrums of New Jersey suburban-life. Centering on the preparation for a high-school debate championship, "Rocket Science's" dramatic thrust revolves around Hal (Reece Daniel Thompson), a stuttering student who endures more than his fair share of peer-and-parental abuse.

Ridiculed by an older brother (Vincent Piazza), and left adrift by a dysfunctional family system, Hal is thrown further off personal trajectory by his inability to fathom the opposite sex. With little self-esteem, he's easy prey for the school's inordinately articulate debate queen (Anna Kendrick). She spins him around and humiliates him. In essence, "Rocket Science" is a story of personal survival, amplified through the micro-cosmic dark hole of high school.

Filmmaker Jeffrey Blitz is acutely observant and sympathetic with the crash-course in life that adolescents spin through. "Rocket Science" is brainy, quirky and splendidly unpredictable. Propelled by daft doses of humor and sardonic perspectives of high-school life, it is charged by its outstanding performances.

Reece Daniel Thompson's lead performance as the stuttering student is marvelously articulate in his mannerisms and vocalizations. As the manipulative, femme fatale, Anna Kendrick's cool histrionics are aptly icy, while Nicholas D'Agosto engagingly charismatic turn as her talented nemesis/ideal nicely grounds the story's perspective.

Under filmmaker Blitz's gifted guidance, technical contributions soar, most prominently composer Eef Barzelay's smartly wacky score, which splendidly counterpoints Hal's uncertain world of New Jersey teen-life.