G-G-G-G-G-Great!

Rocket Science is a genuinely funny, heartfelt, quirky teen comedy. It uses the familiar formula for teen coming of age comedies and gives it enough of a fresh twist to keep the film not only engaging but memorable.

The film opens with a highly engaging Ben Wekselbaum (Nicholas D’Agosto) start a debate and then choke. He quits the debate team and is never heard from again. Hence, there’s an opening on the debate team. Ginny takes it upon herself to find his replace. Ginny really wants to win, and she sees in Hal a hunger to do well. She’s smart, fast talking and just maybe she’s sweet on Hal too.

As in most high school films, the nervous male protagonist can barely get out the words to talk to the pretty girl. But, the twist for this film is that Hal can’t get out of the words to talk to anyone. It’s a problem he struggles with and is mainly mute around anyone but his best friend Heston (Aaron Yoo) and his family. Hal desperately wants to conquer his stutter, but his guidance counselor seems flummoxed for a solution as he only offers ‘It’s a shame you’re not hyper, I can fix that’.

Hal is played by relative newcomer Reece Thomson who brings enduring sympathy to the role even as the character acts foolish, angry and adolescent. In particular, there’s one hilarious scene involving alcohol and a bicycle.

I really enjoyed Hal’s brother Earl (Vincent Piazza), who for most of the film seems like the typical annoying brother and then surprises us by showing that he actually cares for Hal.

There’s a subplot involving Hal’s mom dating the dad of Hal’s Korean best friend. There are some funny scenes involving the Korean culture clash in white suburbia. But mainly, it’s filler for the main story, which is essentially Hal’s journey to becoming the best debate team member that he can be. And it’s a journey I thoroughly enjoyed!