Hal is a high-school student preceded everywhere he goes by a stammer/stutter which makes it pretty much impossible to communicate with anyone else, especially beautiful girls. He's the personification of nearly all boys' trouble at some agonising point in their lives.
Writer/director Blitz is known for his documentary Spellbound, which was of interest to those who are fascinated by spelling competitions but not quite so much fun for the rest of us. Similarly, this contains lots of references and in-jokes in Simpsons style, like the library scene where a fellow student asks, 'Hey, wanna join my club? I know what you're thinking. But we don't read Hegel. We read lots of guys, but not Hegel.'
That's just one of the scenes at school in sunny suburban Baltimore - the camera follows Hal back home too, where he has to cope with a change of Dads and living in the same house as his brother. The intimate 'indie' feeling of the production (albeit with a fairly large cast) is made palpable by the soundtrack, predominantly a simple four-bar melody and plucked on a single guitar.
Despite Hal's shortcomings, he is determined to make it big in the school debating team after falling in love with one of their more nubile super-brains (the phenomenally speed-talking Anna Kendrick), and the story begins with its ending, in depicting someone for whom the hopeful journey was everything, a strong similarity to 'Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner' before going back to show us the run-up, taking in D.I.V.O.R.C.E., the Kama Sutra, the Mystery of Life.
It's an older kid (D'Agosto), who escaped from school and suburbia, who proves to be the wise guy at the top of the mountain, but finally Hal and his estranged father have a meeting of minds, emphasising the point that age does not change our desire for love and understanding.
Writer/director Blitz is known for his documentary Spellbound, which was of interest to those who are fascinated by spelling competitions but not quite so much fun for the rest of us. Similarly, this contains lots of references and in-jokes in Simpsons style, like the library scene where a fellow student asks, 'Hey, wanna join my club? I know what you're thinking. But we don't read Hegel. We read lots of guys, but not Hegel.'
That's just one of the scenes at school in sunny suburban Baltimore - the camera follows Hal back home too, where he has to cope with a change of Dads and living in the same house as his brother. The intimate 'indie' feeling of the production (albeit with a fairly large cast) is made palpable by the soundtrack, predominantly a simple four-bar melody and plucked on a single guitar.
Despite Hal's shortcomings, he is determined to make it big in the school debating team after falling in love with one of their more nubile super-brains (the phenomenally speed-talking Anna Kendrick), and the story begins with its ending, in depicting someone for whom the hopeful journey was everything, a strong similarity to 'Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner' before going back to show us the run-up, taking in D.I.V.O.R.C.E., the Kama Sutra, the Mystery of Life.
It's an older kid (D'Agosto), who escaped from school and suburbia, who proves to be the wise guy at the top of the mountain, but finally Hal and his estranged father have a meeting of minds, emphasising the point that age does not change our desire for love and understanding.