'Son of Rambow': Buzznet Movie Review

Son of Rambow is a refreshing and youthful comedy that traces the effect that First Blood has on a set of British children who come from different sides of town. Combining animation over live-action cinematography, "Son of Rambow" is one of the more uplifting and hilarious films of 2008.

Will (Bill Milner, in his first acting role) belongs to an overtly strict and orthodox religious sect, the Plymouth Brethren. He has never seen a television show. He is forced to leave the class whenever a documentary is shown. His life revolves around the church and the strict set of rules his mother has raised him with.



Will's naiveté gets the best of him one day as he meets a rebellious student, Lee Carter (Will Poulter, in another debut role),  while sitting out on another class documentary. Will's own desire to be a good person causes him to eventually bike Lee home, where he discovers that Lee is responsible for a fledgling movie pirating business, one which his older brother benefits from more than he does.

At Lee's house, Will is exposed to his very first movie: First Blood, the legendary Rambo classic. Within minutes of it's completion, Will's entire worldview is shattered; the sheltered life he's been raised in pales in comparison to the adventures, the action, and the violence that surrounds Rambo.

It's at this point that Will's imagination, which had been confined to doodles in his Bible, takes a life of it's own. Will literally believes that he's the son of Rambo (a thinly-veiled reference to Will's own father, who had died years before) and he embarks on a mission, with Lee as his partner, to create the proper sequel to First Blood: their film is called Son of Rambow.



Garth Jennings' (director/writer) film works on many levels: It's a refreshing, vital, and hilarious take on childlike imagination, one that nearly every person can relate to. We watch Will's creativity take flight (a few times quite literally) through brief scenes where his imagination actually personifies itself, either through some particularly wonderful bits of animation or puppetry, specifically that of an evil scarecrow.

It's also a dual-pronged commentary on suppressive thought and the nightmare of the film industry. Will's budding mind contrasts directly with the plain and simplistic lifestyle he's grown accustomed to as a Brethren; Jennings doesn't aim for exploitation or high-horse morality tales. Instead, he deftly appeals to a sympathetic case for a compromise between the two camps: You can be moral, religious, AND creative.



As the boys' film begins to take shape (with some gloriously lo-fi renderings of action sequences), more and more people become interested and involved, including a French foreign exchange student, Didier (Jules Sitruk), who echoes exotic character actors who have devoted followings, eccentric mannerisms, and a high sense of self-importance. Jennings adds to this a stark parody of the entertainment business, including child directors, over-enthusiastic producers, and a team of pre-pubescenet costume designers.

While people may see a resemblance in Son of Rambow to films such as Be Kind, Rewind and The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys, it's mere coincidence; Rambow succeeds with its sincerity, its creativity, and its genuine sense of excitement about youthful idealism. The acting is stupendous, especially since the leads have never appeared in a film before. The writing is evocative, sensitive, and outright enjoyable. The entire film is obviously crafted with love and enthusiasm.



This is, without a doubt, one of the best films of 2008. After a year of depressing and sobering dramas, it's wonderful to watch a movie that isn't so cynical about the state of human affairs. Son of Rambow asks you to "make believe, not war." I can't imagine a more fitting thought to attach to this film. It's time to let our imagination soar.

Check out the trailer on the official site. Son of Rambow opens on May 2.