Rocket Science

The voice is a powerful and self-defining part of everyone’s identity, and it plays a pivotal role in writer/director Jeff Blitz’s coming-of-age drama. Some people lose their voices, as does the movie’s whiz kid who freezes in the middle of a championship debate. Some people can’t stop their voices, like the adorable debater with the knack for speaking super-fast. Yet others can’t control their voices, like the unpopular protagonist who is teased because he stutters. When the misfit joins the debate team, the awkward underdog discovers the voice he has been searching for within. Although this film isn’t in the same league as Blitz’s Oscar-nominated 2003 documentary Spellbound, Rocket Science is still a touching and realistic look at modern-day adolescence.