Hen Fan

My wife and I rented this movie on DVD based on rave reviews by many colleagues and friends. Personally, I found myself snoozing within about a half hour! Thankfully, I woke up (well, OK, my wife prodded me) and caught some of the amusing dialog.

Even more thankfully, I gave the deleted scenes feature of the DVD version a shot. I wish most of these scenes were left in the movie - most of them are funnier than the scenes that were left in the movie. If you rent the DVD, don't forget to watch the "commentated" version of the movie & scenes - it's much better than the movie itself. In a way, it's like the director doing a "Mystery Science Theater 2000" on his own movie ...

All in all, not a bad movie. But I can't say I agree with those who are really gung-ho about recommending it. Maybe they're just starved for entertainment?

This is a great movie for everyone with a brain (provided you enjoy using it). The story follows a teen through his experiments in rocket building, and the hardships his working class town imposes on him while he tries to expand his mind to follow his calling to science and engineering.

Being a scientist who broke out of a working class town myself, I instantly related to this movie. But the movie is more than that - it's a message to all Americans: if you work hard at something you want, you can achieve it; furthermore, people will eventually respect you for being good at what you do. But, whatever you do, don't quit.

A great movie to sit a pre-teen (or a teenager) down with, and an even better movie to watch as an adult for its amusing and heart-warming scenes, not to mention its endearing plotline.

It may look pretty dull in the video store, but it is well worth it!

Oh, and if you like the movie, check out the book ("Rocket Boys") too!