Aaron Yoo, Anna Kendrick, Denis O'Hare

Hal Hefner is an average sophomore at Plainsboro High School in New Jersey. He stutters and suffers the daily indignities of a typical teenager. With only a little encouragement, Hal falls in love wit...( read more  read more... )h the star of the debate team, Ginny Ryerson, and finds himself suddenly immersed in her ultra competitive world of high-school debating, with its players, its politics and its own set of rules.

Flixster Users

73% liked it

15,154 ratings

Critics

84% liked it

100 critics

R, 1 hr. 38 min.

Directed by: Jeff Blitz

Release Date: August 10, 2007

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: January 29, 2008

Stats: 2,049 reviews

Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Your Rating



clear rating

Flixster Reviews (2,049)


  • October 6, 2009
    Rocket Science is a film that isn't too much of anything. It's funny, but not hilarious, it has emotion without being powerful. In many respects it is a very real film. Like many of it's type, it has those 'charming' little quirks, with extra dollops of weirdness. However, Rocket...( read more) Science decides to stick to a world many can relate to. It has familiar and excellent dialogue, and situations that don't always pan out for the best. A lot to like, but little to love.
  • September 17, 2009
    "Life is faster done than said."

    Looking for answers to life's big questions, a stuttering boy joins his high school debate team.

    REVIEW

    With another entry in the "coming of age" category, I re...( read more)ally was pleasantly surprised to find--if not an original--a deeply-felt, honest portrayal of the trials of adolescence. The strongest aspects were the performances from the entire cast with Anna Kendrick and Vincent Piazza being standouts. But this deeply personal film has many fine moments, both hysterically funny and painfully revealing. Because it refuses to be predictable--even in the final moments--I believe it will stand above other films of this genre. A well chosen score will keep it from becoming dated. It's never glib towards a range "bent" characters, and chooses to leave the smart remarks for the characters and not the film itself. Despite the subject of repressed anger and expressed rage, there's a sweetness that avoids the sentimental. Clearly Jeffery Blitz needed to tell this story. And I hope he has many more for us in the future.
  • August 23, 2009
    There are movies that drag everything so far, that, to a point, the movie becomes unreal. This doesn't happen with this particular movie. Incredibly honest, ordinary and paced accordingly to the rhythm of its subtle action. The performances are great. No, not just great - truly f...( read more)antastic. So is the soundtrack. The script and direction may face difficulties at times, but such difficulties are unnoticeable.

    The portrayal of the high school debating world is awfully accurate. I'm close to the world of debating and argumentation (even though not as close as I would like), and this movie hit right at home. I'm already inclined to liking films featuring any form of school debating, so all the more reason for me to rate it highly.

    I didn't find it slow, and I absolutely enjoyed every minute of it. I'd recommend it to everyone, even though I know that only a few would find the elements in it that would make them care enough for it.
  • July 12, 2009
    Review Coming Soon
  • July 11, 2009
    A long time ago, I remember myself recoiling at comments made about the script for The Usual Suspects. What made me flinch most of all were critics who made unfathomable -- for me, I admit up front -- comments about the "cleverness" of the script -- saying that the scrip...( read more)t was too clever for its own good.

    Well, I've harbored my, I believe, well-founded grievances against ill-informed comments like that ever since, and I actually took a blood-oath that if any movie ever came along that, for me personally, achieved cleverness to this abysmal degree, I'd lay the like pronouncement upon it.

    That moment, at long last, has arrived, and I tell you with utmost sincerity that the moment is not a gleefully happy one for me. At my advanced age, there are precious few moments left to indulge myself in watching movies. I could be hit by a bus tomorrow. So while I still draw breath, I must force my self to type:

    This piece of tripe is way way way too clever for its own good.

    Thank goodness, I guess, that I've now lived long enough to fulfill my life's movie-script-despising-moment mission.

    But I digress.

    Wait, I do not digress . . . o-o-or duh-do I? Well-well-well-well muh-maybe . . . buh-buh-but maybe not?-?-?

    I have just summed up, for those of you still reading this, just how clever this script wants to be, especially in terms of its humanitarian effort to portray disability in a fuh-fuh-fuh-fuh-funny light.

    The word "academic" comes to mind. It's as if this were a writing exercise that Iowa writer workshop profs set in order to torment incoming Iowa writer workshop newbies -- you know, to separate the, uh, well the wheat from the chaff. No offense to Iowa farmers. The saddest part of all is, of course, that the IWW profs must have liked what the newbies churned out -- no offense to Iowa dairy farmers.

    Friends, please don't waste your precious time on earth by watching this extremely artificial intellectual exercise in script crafting. It's so un-this-world clever it's come around the real-world curve and ended up in extremely-annoying-stupid-ville.

  • October 10, 2009
    The story of this movie is quite weird , though its not bad , but i didn't really like it , its fine , its not a very obvious kinda movie , it would have been obvious if Hal had won the states but he didn't , that's sad yet not bad , the part I liked the most about this movie is ...( read more)the part when Hal's preparing for the States , that parts nice , the rest of the movie ain't bad but it isn't anything very good either.
  • August 27, 2009
    I never seen a movie like this before, It's good! Different, Quirky but Good!
  • August 25, 2009
    this one of worst movie i ever see, there was nothing in the movie,no story, dont know Wat the movie intend for. my advice dont waste yor time watching this movie.
  • August 19, 2009
    Soooooooo slow. Seriously this movie was a let down. I thought it would be quirky and unique, perhaps similar to Juno or the likes. Well I was wrong. I was surprised I sat through this entire thing. I am rather impatient and this was testing my patience. It was very slow moving a...( read more)nd in the end literally went no where. Im not kidding. I will ruin the whole movie for you right now just to save you the time. The conflict the whole time is that the main character has a horrible (and annoying) studder. At the end of the movie he still has it, he doesnt win a debate. The end. WTF is that? When it ended I literally was shocked. It didnt go anywhere. Disapointment. Dont see it.
  • August 10, 2009
    This was pretty Ga Ga Ga Good...

Critic Reviews


August 24, 2007
Kyle Smith, KyleSmithOnline.com

A frightening memorandum from a dismal and mysterious dungeon: high school. full review

August 17, 2007
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

Honest and surprisingly lucid at its core. full review

August 17, 2007
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

It may gross as little as Welcome to the Dollhouse or as much as Clueless, but whichever it does, it's in the same league. full review

August 16, 2007
Colin Covert, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

A strong contender to become a student classic. full review

August 10, 2007
Pete Hammond, Maxim

There should be no debate that this little gem deserves to be as big a hit as it was at Sundance. full review

August 10, 2007
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com

Self-consciously quirky on the outside, this gentle teenage fable has an affecting, openhearted core. full review

August 10, 2007
Claudia Puig, USA Today

Smart, witty and blessedly unpredictable. full review

August 9, 2007
Marcy Dermansky, About.com

[I] the company of such instant classics as Wes Anderson's Rushmore and Terry Zwigoff's Ghost World. full review

April 9, 2007
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

Blitz captures the melancholy, the rage, the wackiness and drama of adolescence, and he gets winning performances out of his young stars. full review

View more Rocket Science reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • nbhatti3000
    February 20, 2008
    i didn't like thi movie.
  • Runnerx4xeva
    July 10, 2007
    i want to see this movie. but i dk if its already came out or not, cood any one tell me?

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Official Trailer

More Like This


Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • Juno
    Juno (38%)
  • Thumbsucker
    Thumbsucker (100%)
  • Eagle vs. Shark
    Eagle vs. Shark (100%)
  • Rushmore
    Rushmore (89%)

Facts


No facts approved yet. Be the first

Rocket Science : Watch Free on TV


Rocket Science Trivia


  • What was the movie when a geek and his friends try to make a rocket and does it, then he makes to the science fair state?  Answer »
  • In "Rocket Science", what did Hal Hefner steal from the debate competition?  Answer »
  • "The Magic Man" Jonah Hill Movie? Rocket Science  Answer »

Video Clips


No video clips yet. Want to upload one?

Most Popular Skin


No skins yet. Interested in creating one?