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Rocket Science: Charming, But Not Quite Enough

BuzzSugar — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 14:03:57 -0700

Rocket Science is the kind of movie that people, including me, will describe as charming or endearing. The problem with the film - the first narrative feature from Oscar-nominated director Jeffrey Blitz, who directed Spellbound - is that it's not quite as charming as it thinks it is.

Rocket Science centers on Hal Hefner (Reece Thompson), a meek high schooler with a serious stutter and a wrecked home life. After embarrassing himself by going mum during a school assembly, he's recruited for the school's debate team by Ginny Ryerson (Anna Kendrick), the state debate runner-up who's still nursing the wounds from being abandoned mid-finals by her former partner, Ben Wekselbaum (Nick D'Agosto). Ginny tells Hal she sees real potential in him, and he falls completely for her ploy, never thinking that Ginny might have more self-interested motivations in mind. In normal high school underdog tales, Hal would lose the stutter, get the girl and win the state debate trophy, but Rocket Science is more complicated than that, so read more

From the opening scenes, the central idea of Rocket Science is that on the night Ben Wekselbaum stopped speaking at the New Jersey state debate championships, his voice started slowly making its way toward Hal. And it's an appealing idea, because Hal is obviously smart and witty and easy to root for; you want him to be able to tell the lunch lady he wants pizza without suffering through two minutes of "um"s and "uh"s first. Basically, you want Hal to get what he wants, which is 1) the ability to speak clearly and 2) Ginny. Thompson and Kendrick deliver nuanced performances far beyond their years here; there's one scene that ends with a cello through a window that's simultaneously hilarious and deeply moving.

Rocket Science isn't content just to tell a story of a stuttering, lovelorn wannabe debater, though, and that's where the movie's weaknesses lie. I assume Blitz, who also wrote the film, was aiming for a universal "finding your voice in a messed-up world" theme, with broken marriages, deviant teenagers and unhelpful school counselors to spare. But the movie is bloated with supporting characters and plot threads that don't ever seem to tie into the whole. The counselor, a staple of every high school film, fades in and out of relevance; Hal's mother's lover is little more than a caricature. I would have been content to lose virtually all of those characters and plot lines in favor of spending more time with Hal and Ginny.

The movie starts coming back together toward the end, however, when Hal seeks out Ben for advice. D'Agosto, so so young and goofy-looking in photos, looks positively like a man next to tiny, insecure Hal; Ben's confidence couples with Hal's insecurity to create some of the funniest and truest scenes in the film. I just wish Rocket Science had stuck to dealing with love, revenge, and high school debate; it's a smaller story, true, but one that the film could tell very well indeed.

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"Heroes" Fans: Claire Gets a New Boyfriend

BuzzSugar — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 12:16:41 -0700

Remember Claire's sweet Southern diner fiance from the last season of "Heroes"? Well, forget him. There's going to be a new guy in Claire's life: West, played by Nick D'Agosto. Yes, his name is going to be "West."

No news on exactly what kind of power he'll have, but apparently it's "very cool."

D'Agosto has been in a few TV pilots, but curiously, he's also in an indie movie called Rocket Science, the trailer for which I was just watching this morning. In it he plays Ben, a brilliant high school debater and the counterpart to the lead character Hal whose stutter prevents him from succeeding in the world of high school debate.

The trailer is incredibly endearing and funny, so I can see why the movie got great reviews at its Sundance premiere back in January. It looks similar to the awkward teenage indie movie Thumbsucker - only this time it's stuttering that's the problem, not thumb sucking - with elements of Napoleon Dynamite thrown in. The movie comes out in limited release August 10. To watch the trailer, read more

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What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:30:36 -0700

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. Oh and even though it's not on Netflix, don't forget that Ally McBeal: The Complete Series is finally available on DVD today!

Year One

The comedy chops of Michael Cera and Jack Black weren't enough to make prehistoric comedy Year One a hit, but the movie still has some laughs, especially if you're fans of the two actors.

The gross-out humor definitely wore on me, but the funny supporting cast might make it worth the rental (Paul Rudd, Hank Azaria, and David Cross all make cameos) - if you can stand all the toilet humor.

16%

See two more new releases when you read more.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil

Anvil! The Story of Anvil became a surprising sleeper hit, thanks in large part to word of mouth (aka Twitter). The documentary centers around Canadian heavy metal band Anvil, who may have been little known to the public, but actually went on to influence other popular acts like Metallica. Metallica even shows up in the movie to talk about the band.

The movie was beloved by critics (check that Rotten Tomatoes rating!) and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award.

98%

Assassination of a High School President

Bruce Willis and Mischa Barton star in Assassination of a High School President, a comedy/crime caper set in a high school. The film made a splash at last year's Sundance Film Festival, but then kind of faded away when it came to a theatrical release . . . no matter, because it's on Netflix now.

I was intrigued by the trailer for this movie and will probably check it out, especially since it has Rocket Science's cute protagonist, Reece Thompson.

57%

Which movie will you be adding to your Netflix queue?