Who amongst us hasn’t run up a flight of steps and then jumped around, cheering like an imbecile and challenging Apollo to a rematch? For those of you who would prefer to army crawl from your cubicles to the copy machine just to keep things interesting, set Pop-rocks-and-Coke landmines in the restrooms and doodle dragon slayers on the backs of TPS reports, this film captures that air of free-spirited fun.
Set in the early 1980s, “Son of Rambow” presents two British urchins who come together to make a film that will be featured on Screen Test, a British amateur filmmaker’s competition. And yes, while it’s about (small) dudes playing other dudes, it’s got a great deal more back story to offer than “Tropic Thunder.” Lee Carter (played by Will Poulter) is a troublemaker who has a consistent presence in the principal’s office. Remarkably akin to Keifer Sutherland’s bad-boy beginnings, this kid defines trouble for their school. His differences with William Proudfoot (played by Bill Milner) are juxtaposed in the very beginning: Lee, filming a screening of “Rambo: First Blood,” while Will reads aloud from the Bible on a street corner. Will is a child raised within a very strict religious sect, but the rules can’t prevent him from dreaming and from doodling what captures his imagination. As he sits in a school hallway, waiting for his classmates to finish a film that his religion prevents him from viewing, Lee is kicked out of class. An ensuing tussle over Will’s notebook of drawings leaves the two boys sitting together outside the principal’s office; Lee offers to take the blame, as well as the “torture” that was sure to follow, as long as Will turned his watch over to Lee. Will feels obligated to assist him after the “torture session” that Lee has faked, and gives him a ride home on a bicycle. Once there, Lee attempts to break into a ceramic cat-shaped bank, and has the idea to place it on Will’s head and shoot it with a cross-bow. Suddenly, he’s inspired: Will must star in the movie he’s filming for Screen Test! When Lee’s elder brother arrives home, he hides Will in a boat hung from the rafters until his brother leaves. From there, Will watches television for the first time, and opens this experience with a bang: Rambo’s First Blood. A number of antics ensue, with Will’s doodles intertwining with Lee’s directorial vision to create and produce a movie that grows bigger than either of them had anticipated.
Writer and director Garth Jennings, of “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” fame, based this film partially on his childhood experiences with a camcorder. If that’s true, his mama probably never has to go out and rent movies, because this guy is entertaining enough on his own! The two young lads in the lead roles bring a depth of sincerity to their parts that is quite endearing. They each bring a sense of grave intensity to their characters that…well, can only be rivaled in youngsters who are seriously attempting to make the next great action movie. In the “making of” featurette, I learned that this was the boys’ first auditions—I think (and hope!) we’ll be seeing more of these kids in the future. Their freshness to the genre certainly added to the film’s charm. I particularly enjoyed how that French exchange student, Didier, demonstrated how incredibly relative the concept of “cool” can be to different peer groups. The soundtrack is, in a word, smashing: a delightful blend of 80’s pop and more sentimental compositions by Joby Talbot. Perhaps it’s true this is a movie about kids made for adults—however you may categorize it, it’s one of the most innocently entertaining and sentimental film I’ve seen in some time. In short, as Lee would say, “Skills. Skills on toast.”
So go ahead—take that silk tie off your neck, tie it around your head and go completely apeshit for a few minutes. We all need the opportunity to experience that catharsis every once in a while.
Special features
Commentary
Boys Will Be Boys: Making of “Son of Rambow”
Garth’s Short Film “Aron”—nice hair, kids!
Son of Rambow Website Winner
Previews