Rocket ScienceMovie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 73 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
15 Iffy for 15+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 88
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    I suspect a lot of high school students will recognize elements of real life in the movie, and that the movie will build a following. It may gross as little as "Welcome to the Dollhouse" or as much as "Clueless," but whichever it does, it's in the same league. Read full review

  • 75
    Philadelphia Inquirer | Steven Rea

    Blitz captures the melancholy, the rage, the wackiness and drama of adolescence, and he gets winning performances out of his young stars. Read full review

  • 75
    Boston Globe | Ty Burr

    When it's not opting for whimsy, Rocket Science makes you cringe, which is what's good about it. Read full review

  • 75
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    It is smart, witty and blessedly unpredictable. Read full review

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle | Peter Hartlaub

    Rocket Science has the makings of either a tragedy or a crowd-pleasing underdog story, but writer-director Jeffrey Blitz instead takes the movie on a different, and ultimately more rewarding, direction. Read full review

  • 70
    Washington Post | Desson Thomson

    Jeffrey Blitz's smart, deceptively lighthearted movie gives audiences an endearing nerd-messiah to revisit that angst for all of us and -- maybe, just maybe -- he'll end up in love and ahead. Read full review

  • 70
    The New York Times | Stephen Holden

    The surest sign of the movie's integrity is that it resists any temptation to build the story to a climactic debate. Read full review

  • 70
    Variety | Justin Chang

    This unusually voluble comedy is as eloquent about love, self-realization and adolescent angst as its protagonist is endearingly tongue-tied. Read full review

  • 70
    The Hollywood Reporter |

    Catapulted by an endearing lead performance by Reece Daniel Thompson as a stuttering high-school student, Rocket Science transcends the predictable high-school yarn and arcs into usually unexplored domains of self-discovery and personal growth in a coming-of-age film. Read full review

  • 50
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    One of those terminally annoying, depressive-yet-coy Sundance faves in which the tale of a mopey teen misfit unfolds behind a hard candy shell of irony. Read full review

View more reviews for Rocket Science on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 15+ Debate-team teen comedy is clever, unpredictable.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this quirky teen comedy is pretty mild for an R-rated film (think Rushmore rather than Superbad). It does include some language ("s--t," "ass," etc.), shots of teens kissing, a couple of conversations about sex, and one scene of the protagonist drinking, but for the most part it's a clever, unconventional teen flick that follows a misfit, stuttering guy who joins the school debate team.
  • Families can talk about the appeal of "misfit" teen heroes, from Max Fischer in Rushmore to Napoleon Dynamite. What characteristics do these kinds of characters have in common? What characteristics do their movies have in common? Is it more fun to watch movies about this kind of teenager or more "mainstream" teens? Why? Who do you identify with more? Families can also discuss the Hefner parents' divorce and how it affects both boys.
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: A teen with a severe stutter joins the debate club and finds his voice. An overly competitive girl tries to sabotage a team's chances of winning.
What to watch for
  • violence false0 Violence: Hal gets pounded by his angry brother; Hal throws a cello through a window.
  • sex false3 Sex: Teen couples kiss; Hal and Ginny make out in a janitor's closet; Hal hears his mom having sex with a neighbor; Hal and his brother discuss oral sex and "bases." Illustrations from the Kama Sutra are shown.
  • language false3 Language: Several instances of "the finger" and uses of words including "s--t," "bulls--t," "ass," "retard," etc.
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Lincoln Town Car.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Hal drinks a bottle of hard liquor and then does stupid things while very drunk.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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Rocket Science Movie Ratings + Reviews

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