Rocket Science

Thank you Netflix! This quirkier-than-thou high school movie, about one coming-of-age-not-so-gracefully story, was thoroughly entertaining. It follows the mostly intrepid trajectory of one lovelorn stammerer from virtual outcast to state debate championship contender. The strength of this flick is its cast. I can't remember a weak character, in design or execution. I can remember a few irritating characters, but that was sort of par for the course.

My only complaint is the occasional feeling that this movie was trying a little too hard to be in a certain category of recent independent successes. The narrator - who was equal parts Alec Baldwin in the Royal Tenenbaums and Ricky Jay in Magnolia - was the perfect example of what I'm getting at. No matter, it didn't get in the way too often, and there were some singularly heartfelt scenes here (not to mention the singularly funny ones).

Oddly enough, it took place in "Plainsboro High School" in suburban NJ. Though fictitious - there are two West Windsor-Plainsboro High Schools, north and south, but no "Plainsboro" - it hits about as "close to home" as possible. Unfortunately, the majority of the movie appeared to have been fiilmed in Maryland, not the Garden State. Weird, nonetheless.