Rocket Science

Newcomer Reece Thompson plays Hal Hefner, a 15-year-old high-school student with a minor yet socially alienating disability: he stutters uncontrollably. When super-confident Ginny, the object of Hefner's unrequited desires, invites him to confront his impediment by joining the terrifyingly eloquent ranks of the debate team, Hal decides to take up the gauntlet, plunging headfirst into breakneck speech competitions. Blitz, like his onscreen alter ego, struggled with a stammer as a young man, imparting the fast-rising writer-director with a lifelong interest in speech and storytelling. Engagingly performed, Rocket Science also makes for inspirational and disarming viewing, proving that no obstacle is insurmountable.