Rocket Science (2007)
Directed by Jeffrey Blitz
Hal is 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.
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What critics compared Rocket Science to
Crafted along the lines of Harold and Maude and Welcome to the Dollhouse, his quirky drama is populated with angst ridden high school students who suffer through obsessions and strive to make their way in this crazy world.
Perhaps there is no better actor to express such quiet frustration as Thompson, who plays Hal with a particular melancholy that suggests he would've made an excellent stand-in for Harold and Maude star Bud Cort during the 1970s.
Blitz wants the film to be like 70s auteur Hal Ashby (whose first name was borrowed for his hero) by way of “Harold And Maude” and “Being There,” but the whole thing comes off like Wes Anderson-lite without that director’s colorful and painterly mise-en-scene.
The script feels reminiscent of any number of millennial adolescent dramedies; think of films like Jeffrey Blitz’s Rocket Science – to pull one randomly from the corners of memory – that matter most to those who saw them at just the right age.
Hooper's feel-good storytelling recalls Jeffrey Blitz's "Rocket Science," which revolved around a stutterer engaged in high school debate competitions, but the sunny vibes seem out of place in the context of British royalty.