Rocket Science
*** RATING
Buoyed by a script rife with poetry, a handful of dynamic performances and Eef Barzelay’s near-perfect score, “Rocket Science” begins with the crashing and burning of high school policy debate champ Ben Wekselbaum. Then writer-director Jeffrey Blitz (“Spellbound”) deftly shifts the weight of the tale from one style of debate to a more familiar sort, from one dark-haired teen to a vague version of the same. Hal Hefner’s parents are splitting up. And soon he’s being recruited by Ben’s old debate partner, the hypercompetitive Ginny Ryerson. Did we mention Hal (Reece Daniel Thompson) stutters? Ginny’s heat and this year’s resolution on teen abstinence only adds to Hal’s staccato stammering. We’ve seen incarnations of Ginny before, but Anna Kendrick plays her with a blazing directness that runs roughshod over doubts about veracity. Yearning to speak one’s desire or frustration and not quite pulling it off, makes for this coming-of-age comedy’s rough and exhilarating terrain. R; 98 minutes. Released today.
Daddy Day Camp
*1/2 RATING
Charlie Hinton learns that the day camp he attended as a young boy has fallen into disrepair. It is on the verge of being shut down by the fancy camp next door. In a bonehead move, Hinton buys the camp. He and buddy Phil throw all of their energy and money into bringing the camp back to its previous glory. “Daddy Day Camp” is a mess. Cuba Gooding Jr. would rather mug for the camera than actually act. The film’s young stars don’t have the talent to be cast in a fifth-grade Christmas pageant. And the script is uninspired and unfunny. PG; 99 minutes. Released today.
King of California
** RATING
Michael Douglas’ bipolar jazz bassist Charlie comes out of a mental institution two years after attempting suicide. His eyes are crazy wide, his hair and beard graying explosions, and he still has his bouts of depression. But he’s generally optimistic and energetic, if as irresponsible as ever. Seems that while institutionalized, he read the journals of an 18th-century Spanish missionary, who buried a treasure right there in Charlie’s hometown of Santa Clarita. PG-13; 93 minutes. Released today.
Lisa Kennedy
