The career ofAnna Kendrickhas so far been rather intriguing, beguiling, and interesting, with a wide range of genres, topics, and performances. Audiences will know her best for her star-making turns as Bella in thePitch Perfecttrilogy, Natalie Keener in the Oscar-nominatedUp in the Air,and her appearances in theTwilightfranchise and as Cinderella inInto the Woods.However, it is in Kendrick’s back catalog that many surprising little indie gems can be found. Films like the cancer comedy50/50,the rom-comDrinking Buddies,the adaptation of a Broadway musical inThe Last Five Years,and the romantic crime caperMr. Rightprovide a fantastic alternative insight into Kendrick’s range and versatility. It is in another little indie gem, her second-ever film, in fact, that we see for the first time a lot of the acting chops that would become familiar to audiences.Rocket Science,the 2007 dramedy by directorJeffreyBlitz, features a defiant, quick-witted turn from Kendrick as star debate champion Ginny Ryerson.
Kendrick stars oppositeReece Thompson,Nicholas D’Agosto,Margo Martindale, andVincent Piazza, and Blitz got the idea for making this film after making his Oscar-nominated documentarySpellboundabout the National Spelling Bee. An executive for HBO Films suggested he write a script in a similar vein to his successful documentary butbased on his own adolescent experiencesas a stutterer. And so,Rocket Sciencewas born. The film had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2007 and went on to play at various festivals around the world before its theatrical release in August of that year.Blitz won the Dramatic Directing Award at Sundance for his work, amongst various other nominations that year at smaller awards ceremonies.
Rocket Science
Rocket Science is a comedy-drama film about Hal Hefner, a high school student who stutters. After a chance encounter with the school’s debate team star, Ginny Ryerson, Hal joins the debate team to overcome his speech impediment and win her affection. As he navigates the challenges of public speaking and teenage life, Hal embarks on a journey of self-discovery.
What is ‘Rocket Science’ About?
Rocket Sciencetells the story of Hal Hefner (Thompson), a fifteen-year-old high school student with a serious stutter from New Jersey. On the bus home from school one day,he is approached by Ginny Ryerson (Kendrick), the smart-sounding, fast-talking star of the school’s debating team. She gets him to join the debating team. Hal is initially infatuated with Ginny and agrees to join the team, first struggling through a practice debate and runs out in a move that will no doubtmake many viewers nostalgic of their high-school days. Ginny subsequently cuts off contact with Hal, with Coach Lumbly (Martindale) informing the school’s debating squad thatGinny has left their school for another one and will be competing against them, in an act of cinematic betrayal.
Hal learns that Ginny had only recruited him to the team to embarrass the school, so he plans revenge. Later in the school year, Hal travels to Trenton – “The Big City” –to find Ben and convince him to debate with Hal at the upcoming Policy Debate Championships, registering as homeschooled pupils.Ben helps Hal overcome his stutter by getting him to recite his speech to the tune and rhythm of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”. The new team ends up being disqualified from the competition and thefilm ends with Hal and his father talking about how love shouldn’t be rocket science.
‘The Last Picture Show’ at 50: Why It Remains the Best High School Movie
Peter Bogdanovich’s 1971 classic eschews showing audiences what they wish their high school was like for emotional honesty about the teenage psyche.
Anna Kendrick plays Ginny Ryerson, a confident and highly articulate member of the high school debate team. She recruits the shy and stuttering Hal Hefner, believing in his potential despite his speech impediment.Ginny’s character is complex; she is ambitious, driven, and at times manipulative, using Hal for her own competitive purposes. Her unexpected departure from the team becomes a pivotal moment for Hal, pushing him towards personal growth and self-discovery. Hal’s successful character development changes Ginny too, leaving her accepting her weaknesses in a move thatshows her strength. Kendrick’s performance adds a layer of intensity and complexity to the film,showcasing her early talent in a role that blends charm with a more calculating edge.
What Does Anna Kendrick Bring to the Picture?
The answer to that question is, a lot. Anna Kendrick shows off all the astounding acting ability that would be more widely seen in her next big performance as Natalie Keener in the widely acclaimedUp in the Air.The maturity she shows as Ginny Ryerson is highly impressive on the face of it, and even more so when one considers Kendrick’s young age and relative inexperience on the big screen. The profound depth and complexity she manages to pull off for someone only appearing in their second ever film is marvelous to behold. She shows a similar bolshiness in her first film,Camp,directed byTodd Graff. Ginny Ryerson’s sharpness and ambition in signing Hal Hefner up to the school’s debating team is also analogous to Natalie Keener’s ruthlessness inUp in the Airwhen she sets about movingGeorge Clooneyandthe rest of his firing squadonline to cut costs. Anna Kendrick evidently excels at playing these ruthless, smart, savvy women, even garnering herself an Oscar nomination for such a role. It is a grave shame the rest of her filmography isn’t filled with such high-class roles and performances.
But it does make the audience appreciate her work inRocket Scienceall the more.Ginny Ryerson is an especially complex character whose motives are generally obscured beyond winning at all costs.Kendrick’s portrayal of this character is multi-faceted and one with serious and surprising depth. After all, a small independent high school dramedy about a boy with a stutter isn’t one in which audiences would expect exceptional depth and emotion. Yet Kendrick does her best and does indeed deliver. She has appeared indramedies since that have featured bigger starsin front and behind the camera, but where she hasn’t been able to bring as much to the table herself. InRocket Science,she brings out Ginny’s intelligence, determination, and vulnerability especially well.Despite Ginny’s manipulative tendencies, Kendrick manages to make the character relatable and, even at some times, sympathetic towards Haland for the audience.
Where Anna Kendrick succeeded most with this picture, however, is in how well she portrays the actual debating in the film. In particular, the research she did for the role with debating coaches helped her portray one particularly intelligent-sounding aspect of debating at such a high level. Spreading is the act of speaking exceedingly quickly with the aim of covering all possible arguments so that judges can award you as many points as possible, and it is used in American debating championships for this exact reason.It may sound unintelligible and nonsensical in the film, as if it wereone of many made-up cinematic languages, but the real-life example shownhereis just as incomprehensible. Kendrick authentically nails this role and impresses immensely in doing so.
The naturalistic way in which Kendrick portrays Ginny Ryerson is, too, very impressive.She delivers her performance with a confidence that belies her young age and relative inexperience at the time. She just misses out on joiningthe glorious pantheon of astounding film debuts, but for someone to show such acting chops so early in their career is magnificent to witness. Her ability to convey complex emotions and motivations helps ground the film’s more whimsical elements. She straddles the line between comedy and drama incredibly well, showing a range well beyond her years.Rocket Scienceis a charming little film, one with a lot of heart and lots of laughter along the way as well. Everyone acts well and everyone behind the camera plays their role well too.But Kendrick is the star of the film and she makes this picture, turning it from the little film that could into the little film that did.
