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Review #652 of 365
Movie Review of Son of Rambow (2008) [PG-13] 96 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $13.75
Where Viewed: Landmark Esquire Theatre, Denver, CO
When Seen: 13 June 2008
Time: 9:30 pm
DVD Release Date: Unscheduled (please check back)
After the Credits:
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer
Soundtrack: Download now from 
- or - order the CD below
Directed by: Garth Jennings (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)
Written by: Garth Jennings (debut)
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Bill Milner (debut) • Will Poulter (debut) • Jules Sitruk (Aiguilles rouges, Les) • Jessica Hynes (Confetti) • Ed Westwick ("Gossip Girl") • Neil Dudgeon (After 8)
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Deliriously engaging from the raucous opening sequence juxtaposition of the lives of two English school boys: Lee Carter's a maverick, virtually unsupervised renegade, and Will Proudfoot's the son of Brethren parents and now single mom after his father's untimely brain aneurysm, Son of Rambo represents the collision of the imaginations of two opposites attracting and discovering in each other a best friend and eventual blood brother. The gifted young actors, Will Poulter and Bill Milner, star as Lee and Will respectively; and, not since Jamie Bell starred as young Billy Elliot, have English lads so captivated and commanded the big screen. Both are perfectly cast with Poulter as a middle school bully turned budding filmmaker, Lee Carter, and Milner as the scrawny cartoonist turned Lee Carter's personal stunt man. The duo are introduced when Lee, routinely tossed out of class by teachers whose patience he wears razor thin, and Will whose mother's religious rules prohibit him from viewing on the television the instructional documentaries his history teacher utilizes frequently thereby subjecting him to a solitary life in the hallway, tussle over Will's sketch book ending in a smashed gold fish bowl and a date with the Headmistress. Lee capitalizes on the opportunity, in exchange for his taking the full blame, to extract penance from Will including a protracted commitment to serve as the stunt man for his film which he intends to submit to the Screen Test Contest sponsored by the BBC. Two shades shy of Charlie Bucket when it comes to weight class, don't let Will's size fool you though for within his tiny package lives the soul of the son of Rambow. Lee, addicted to the action and fervent strength of he real Sly Stone version of Rambo whom he idolizes from First Blood which he's seen umpteen times while doing the dubbing duplication job making dupes his brother apparently bootlegs for extra cash, becomes intrigued with Will's idea of turning his plain stunt film into the dramatic tale of a young boy's attempt to rescue his father, Rambo, from the clutches of an Evil Scarecrow. Their film and their friendship, however, are threatened by the interference of fast and wild French foreign exchange student, Didier Revol(Jules Sitruk), and Brother Joshua (Neil Dudgeon) of the Brethren who fancies Will's mother, Mary (Jessica Hynes) and filling in for Will's deceased father code for shutting down Will's spirited adventures.
Writer / director Garth Jennings has created a spirited adventure with richly developed characters, a clever story that accurately depicts the complicated, pinball machine life of adolescent boys, and imaginative special effects (both graphical and stunts). The young actors: Bill Milner, Will Poulter, and Jules Sitruk are so genuine and effortless in their portrayals it's easy to forget their acting at all. Ed Westwick, presently of "Gossip Girl" fame, turns in a credible performance as Lee Carter's older brother, Lawrence, the cad playboy who learns an invaluable lesson in being a role model to an impressionable youngster. The adults in the film are uniformly dry and mostly uninteresting.
a spirited adventure with richly developed characters, a clever story that accurately depicts the complicated, pinball machine life of adolescent boys
The Brethren are depicted as backward-thinking, cold, and rule-oriented religious zealots creating sort of the 'elephant in film' syndrome as in "what does this really have to do with the film's otherwise wholly satisfying story?" Either Garth Jennings has largely unexplored personal issues with the Brethren or he needed to manufacture a plot device to create needless tension in the Proudfoot household. The film could have done without this part and just left Will's mother in the category of preoccupied, single parent. As is too often the case in stories about kids, the grown ups are stock, shallow, lifeless characters that get in the way and offer little to the mix. These were, especially the droning instructors at Will's and Lee's school, of this category and then some. Fortunately, the kids make up the bulk of the story and screen time, and they did a stupendous job. The cinematography and artistic qualities of the film add to the experience giving the film it's own unique, sort of Harold and the Purple Crayon like style. Take a chance on this independent film when it comes to your town and rediscover the daring kid inside yourself.
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Other Projects Featuring Son of Rambow (2008)
Cast Members
Bill Milner • Will Poulter • Jules Sitruk
Jessica Hynes • Ed Westwick • Neil Dudgeon
Director
Garth Jennings
Writer
Garth Jennings
Review-lite
Son of Rambow (2008) [max of 150 words]
Writer / director Garth Jennings creates a spirited adventure with richly developed characters, a clever story that accurately depicts the complicated, pinball machine life of adolescent boys, and imaginative special effects (both graphical and stunts) in the tradition of Harold and the Purple Crayon but with the imaginative story of a the son of Rambo who aims to rescue his father, Rambo, whose been captured by an evil scarecrow. The young actors: Bill Milner and Will Poulter are so genuine and effortless in their portrayals it's easy to forget their acting at all as they bring the leading characters of Will Proudfoot and Lee Carter to life. Take a chance on this independent film when it comes to your town and rediscover the daring kid inside yourself.
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