DVD REVIEW: ROCKET SCIENCE (2007)

I watch a lot of movies. I am on the five of the time plan at Netflix. I've gotten to the point where I am so jaded that I go weeks, months without seeing a great film.

I got ROCKET SCIENCE in the mail today. It was down in the teens or twenties in my queue, as I normally have all the upcoming new releases or VERY LONG WAITS at the top. None were available so I was sent this.

I wasn't expecting anything.

All I knew about the film was that it played at Sundance. I don't know why I even added it to my queue.

The film is about a high school student (Reece Daniel Thompson) who stutters. An outcast at school, he often hides in the janitor's closet to be alone.

At home, he has an obsessive compulsive / thief for an older brother (Vincent Piazza) and his mom just left his father and is now dating the father of a friend of his.

One day, the head of the debating team (Anna Kendrick) approaches him to join the team. He falls in love with her, so joins the team, despite his stuttering.

There is a moment, about twenty minutes in, where Thompson is riding his bike in front of Kendrick's house. He is hoping to catch a glimpse of her.

A kid at the house across the street comes out. He looks at him and says "You're on my street"

"So?" says Thompson "Don't you know what public property is?"

"We'll see." the kid says and goes inside.

He comes out "My mom says it IS public property. She also says that if it is ok with your mom, you can come in and have 7UP."

With that moment, I knew I loved this movie.

The film sets such a perfect tone, quirky yet believable, that you have to love it. The characters are smart, yet not JUNO smart where you don't believe a word they are saying. This is an entirely realistic film. And an extremely funny one at that.

It was written and directed by a guy name Jeffrey Blitz. I hadn't heard of him, but looked him up. Turns out, he had directed the excellent spelling bee documentary SPELLBOUND along with several episodes of THE OFFICE!!!! That is a flawless resume right there. I can't wait to see what he does next (which according to the IMDB is a documentary on lottery winners, if that is correct).

Everyone in the cast is perfect. The only cast member among the leads that I was at all familiar with was Anna Kendrick, a Broadway actress who was in the very good CAMP. Thompson and Piazza are both excellent, as is the always welcome Margo Martindale (from Alexander Payne's segment of PARIS JE T'AIME) as the debate team coach.

One person I didn't expect to see was SUPERBAD's Jonah Hill in one scene in a library. He made this before SUPERBAD and is very funny.

Like I said, I see countless films. Rarely does one come along that I like this much.

I loved it.

4 1/2 stars out of 5