Review: Rocket Science

Jeffery Blitz directed 2002's documentary, Spellbound, about eight kids trying to win the national spelling bee, held in Washington DC every year. Most people haven't given this competition that much thought. It's not like people think of it as particularly nerdy, even though that is what it is. It's kids put to the test of pure memorization.

I say directed, even though it's a documentary. Perhaps directed isn't quite the right word as much as edited. The director still needs to decide which kids to show, how to portray the kids.

It's easy to tell that for any successful spelling bee kid, there's almost always a parent that's deeply involved. The documentary shows that women are as successful as men, that people living in the country can have as much success as those in the city, and that immigrants, particularly those from India, can be better spellers than white Americans that most non-Americans think of as American.

To be a spelling bee champ, you have to devote effort to what, in hindsight, seems like a silly task. Memorizing words. With hundred of thousands, if not millions, of possible words, this task is daunting, and on the surface, downright silly. One could argue that as silly as sports are, there's some remote possibility of making money. There aren't really professional spellers (well, there are Scrabble competitors), so people are competing just because there's a national championship.

Spelling, like many "nerdy" endeavors (I find it far less nerdy than most since it's basically brute force memorization), attracts its share of people, some less socially well adjusted than others.

You have to imagine that Jeffrey Blitz saw, in the many kids he interviewed, an angle he could write about, tell a story about.

Instead of focusing on spelling, the venue is high school debate. More than like, Blitz participated in debate. At the very least, Rocket Science, a film ostensibly about debate shows solid knowledge of this field. This is no Balls of Fury, where the sport is mocked, and likely little real research was done in this "comedy". Blitz shows he understands how debates are run.

But, like the spellers in Spellbound, this film is not just about those who spend their high school years in the pursuit of debate excellence, it asks why. Although the film does not focus most of its attention on Ginny Reyerson, the determined female debater who is also the object of Hal Hefner's awkward affections, nor with Ben Wekselbaum, who Ginny was trying to win a debate championship with, but ultimately does not when Ben reaches an epiphany about life, and decides life spent in the pursuit of debate excellence is wasted, and thus chooses not to continue the debate at the moment of victory.

Instead, it's the story of Hal Hefner, a shy kid with uncontrollable stuttering, whose parents have split up and whose older brother torments him, even as he advises him to have "agendas". He is spotted by Ginny who thinks she can form him into an expert debater.

If this were a more popular film, rather than the indie film it is, you might see Hal overcome his awkwardness, his stuttering, and reach for success. And yet, indie films learn from their more popular brethren how to build up expectations, but rip the cheap thrill we'd get from a satisfying conclusion away. It's the kind of movie that wouldn't play well in India, because it chooses a (somewhat more) honest way to deal with Hal's personal issues.

Films have the unenviable task of making you understand a story and care about the people in less than two hours. Understandably, characterization often takes a backseat to story, and Rocket Science is no exception. Hal is, by far, the most well-developed character.

Everyone else is a bit of a caricature, even if somewhat unique. Ginny, who is the second most developed character, is something of a cipher. You know she wants to succeed as a debater. Winning awards means a lot to her. It's suggested that she's willing to use her knowledge that she's a good looking gal to her advantage, that in society, ambitious women use whatever resource they have.

She's something of a fantasy character for Hal, a teen who's not only beautiful and smart, but also willing to point to the awkward guy, and feel he has something to offer. Anna Kendrick, who plays Ginny, does an excellent job in what would have to be a difficult role. First, she has to master "spreading", the fast speaking that debaters master to fill in as many points as possible in the limited amount of time given in a debate. She has to make fairly technical points, which often leaves most actors dazed, given their lack of technical background.

Blitz pays attention to the smallest of detail to make her attractive to Hal, from the backwards hand-wave, to the small tug of her rather tight jeans. You know Blitz has done this intentionally, because later, in a flashback, he repeats this scene in slomo and closeup.

Also well-cast is Nicholas D'Agosto, who simply looks the part of the debater, Ben Weckselbaum, down to a Tucker Carlson bowtie. He's smug, self-assured, a guy who has mastered the nuances of debate. He was cast in Election, a film this has been compared to.

Oddly enough, this film has been compared to Napoleon Dynamite. Where Hal Hefner is awkwardness personfied, Napoleon seems vaguely unaware that he's a complete dork. He continues plugging on, making up stories about himself and how he's this stud.

Meanwhile, Hal's life, up until he meets Ginny, is missing. His stuttering has meant he hasn't met anyone, hasn't done much with his life. He's smart, but no one, saves Ginny, sees this. And even then, does Ginny really see it? Ultimately, you feel Ginny wants to help Hal because her "breakup" with Ben has left her vulnerable, and she's a woman who wants control. By finding the worst person to debate, she hopes she can mold a nobody into a champion, and show Ben that she doesn't need the best--she can make the best.

Blitz, at least, tries to play honest. There are many tiny details showing a great master of continuity, from Hal always carrying a carry-on suitcase with him, to Hal sitting in the janitor's closet, to Hal leaving school in the middle of the day to find the locket that his brother stole, and bringing that back to Ginny's mother (and she asks "Aren't you supposed to be in school?"). Furthermore, he doesn't create a miracle with Hal, even as he leads you to think he might.

Blitz doesn't develop many of the characters. Hal's parents are ciphers. Hal's mother's boyfriend, a Korean-American judge is there for comic relief. The judge's gay son, Heston, is hardly addressed, nor is Ginny's cross-dressing neighbor, Lewis, whose parents are working their way through odd sex/marriage therapy given much detail. However, these quirky characters are at least not terribly stereotypical.

And, as many indie movies, this movie is a product of the times, recognizing that there are Koreans and Indians in American society, making references to the Kama Sutra by picture, if not by name.

Ultimately, as hopelessly awkward as Hal is, as implausible as his life is, the film is amusing and fairly honest to itself. Hal personifies many a geek who wants to catch the eye of a beautiful girl, who does crazy things hoping to win her over, and who must learn that life isn't always going be as pleasant as you imagine. Often bright people feel there is a kind of destiny for their talent, and figure the answers to life are complex, and require complex actions to achieve.

If his film works, it's partly because Reece Daniel Thompson plays this role so well, and partly because it takes a topic you never see in a film (debate) and asks questions about what people want out of life, what people are prepared to do, and whether, in the end, it's worth taking part of your childhood to push yourself to a kind of success.

It's funny and touching and well worth watching.