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Coming of age in Plainsboro, New Jersey. High school student Hal Hefner stutters. On the evening his parents stop arguing and separate, 43 miles away at the state tournament, his school's legendary debater, Ben Wekselbaum, goes blank mid-sentence, Ben's teammate Ginny Ryerson doesn't get a first-place trophy, and the world changes. That fall, to Hal's amazement, Ginny recruits him for the debate team, mentors him, and will be his partner. He still has his stutter, but he works hard and he falls in love with Ginny. On the day of the first debate of the season, the world changes again. From then until the day of th...
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e state tournament, Hal has a lot to sort out. Is love rocket science?
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Jeffrey Blitz (2002's SPELLBOUND) directs this comedy that follows in the footsteps of teen outsider indies such DONNIE DARKO, THUMBSUCKER, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, and RUSHMORE. Set in New Jersey, the film follows Hal Hefner (impressive newcomer Reese Thompson) in his attempts to go through high school unnoticed. This is made considerably harder by his obvious stutter and inability to verbalize even the most basic statements, not to mention his thoughts and feelings. Bringing him no help are his strange and abusive older brother Earl (Vincent Piazza), his recently divorced parents, his mother's live-in boyfriend, and ...
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his school's inadequate speech therapist. When the school's bossy, attractive debate champion Ginny Ryerson (Anna Kendrick) tries to recruit Hal as her debating partner, good sense tells him no but his hormones cry yes, and soon Hal finds himself confronted with growing feelings for Ginny as well as the looming humiliation of having to compete in the state finals.
ROCKET SCIENCE features a good cast of relative unknowns, who with the help of a solid script, convey the pangs of adolescent angst and the awkwardness of high school. The film treads familiar territory but does so well, sticking to the story and not getting too caught up in style. The film's soundtrack, which features songs from Clem Snide frontman Eef Barzelay, perfectly matches its indie pedigree.
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Jeffrey Blitz's seriocomedy Rocket Science proves that many a handicap can be overcome, no matter how daunting the obstacle at hand may initially seem. Newcomer Reece Thompson plays Hal Hefner, a 15-year-old high-school student with a minor yet socially alienating (and painful) disability: he stutters uncontrollably. Determined to work through the problem, Hal opts for an extreme route -- he joins the school debating team, which sends him on a headfirst plunge into breakneck speech competitions -- and offers a much-needed boost toward correcting the problem. Blitz, like his onscreen alter ego, struggled with a st...
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ammer as a young man -- a disability he eventually surmounted -- which imparted him with a lifelong interest in speech and storytelling.
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Een tiener met een ontzettend stotterprobleem sluit zich aan bij een debatgroep van zijn hogeschool. Hij hoopt met deze wanhopige poging indruk te maken op het meisje van zijn dromen, om haar zo voor zich te winnen.