As the summer sun shines down on England in the early 1980s, two boys who couldn't be more different are brought together by a mutual love of cinema, and a desire to emulate their favorite action movie icon. Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner) is a well-mannered schoolboy being raised in an ultra-religious community that deplores such corruptive distractions as television, and seeks to maintain their purity by severely limiting contact with the outside world. In order to exorcise his creative inner demons, Will has taken to sketching imaginative drawings and complex illustrations. Lee Carter (Will Poulter) is the school terror, a rampaging hellion whose overaggressive behavior has made him an endless source of frustration to the faculty, and a source of fear to his fellow classmates. As fate would have it, Will is in the school hallway avoiding exposure to the classroom television when a fed-up teacher ejects Lee from the classroom. Though at first it appears as if Lee is about to torment timid Will just as he does the rest of the student body, the two form a tight bond after Will convinces Lee to view an bootleg copy of Rambo: First Blood. When Lee informs Will that he wants to shoot a homebrewed version of the violent action film for an upcoming amateur filmmaking contest, a sudden streak of rebellion prompts his sheltered classmate to readily agree. As the summer wears on the two boys set out to create the ultimate no-budget action movie, but their grand vision hits an unexpected hitch when a busload of French exchange students arrive at the school and the leader of the pack attempts to (Jules Sitrukj) hijack the production. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Review by All Movie Guide
All Movie Guide
is neutral about it.
Falling somewhere between
Neil Jordan's
The Butcher Boy and
Danny Boyle's
Millions, but perhaps better than both, Son of Rambow is an exuberant portrait of two young boys whose overactive imaginations compensate for their impoverished family lives. But comparing Son of Rambow to any previous film tends to underplay the originality of Garth Jennings' achievement. It's a period piece, set during the 1982 theatrical run of
First Blood,
Sylvester Stallone's initial film appearance as John Rambo, and at a time when Depeche Mode and Culture Club were first popular in England. But the dreamy production design allows the film to feel timeless. To boost the fantasy quotient on a story that otherwise adheres to realism, Jennings has included a variety of wild camera angles, unobtrusive digital tricks and exaggerated sound effects, this last thanks to a trio of accomplished sound designers. The soul of this story needs no bells and whistles. The lead child actors,
Bill Milner and
Will Poulter, are each highly convincing portraying their characters: the gentle introvert without a father from a cultish religious family, and the rambunctious scoundrel whose lack of parental supervision has made him what he is. Their odd-couple pairing fuels the wondrous adventure of filming a
Rambo sequel, which they hope will win a nationwide young filmmaker contest. There was the potential for this material to come across as twee, given the cast of mostly children and the bravura production design. But cuteness never defines these young actors, as Jennings coaxes a certain archness out of them. Jennings keeps things on an eccentric path, especially by following the popularity of the achingly hip French exchange student (
Jules Sitruk). Son of Rambow's ambitions -- to praise the healing power of loyalty and friendship -- are ultimately modest. It's the vibrant journey that's so joyous. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide