Son of Rambow (2007) User Reviews

A Fantastic Movie About the Wonders of Childhood

[sundevil27 · 8/10 · 29 January 2007]

I recently took this movie in at the 2007 Sundance film festival and am quite glad that I made the effort to sneak this little gem in. The movie was made by the very talented Garth Jennings of the famed music video production team Hammer and Tongs known for their visionary music videos and previously Hitcherhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Set in an average English town in 1982 the movie revolves around the interesting life of a 12-13 year old boy named Will whose family is part of a strict religious group that prohibits him from having any friends outside the group and strictly forbids him from watchings any TV or Movies. Without these usual sources of childhood entertainment Will finds other ways to pass the time, namely in drawing out his flourishing imagination that he scribbles and doodles all over the pages of his bible. One day Will unexpectedly crosses paths with the school terror Carter who also happens to be an amateur bootlegger at the local movie theater. Will, whose never seen a movie before is caught off guard when at Carters home he sees Rambo playing on the TV, the visuals of the movie explode in Will's imaginative mind and from there on out Will is forever changed. An unlikely friendship begins between Will and Carter as they begin production on Carter's home movie masterpiece, Son of Rambow. The two children begin coming closer before their friendship is tested by a new-wave French exchange student Didier Revolve. As the friendship between Will and Carter begins getting twisted so does his relationship with his family, as the church group starts taking notice of Wills more worldly interests. In the end Will must stay true to himself and the film must go on.

The performances by all the children were exceptional, especially Carter who is the movie's sparkplug and provides comic relief frequently. As well as Didier the french exchange student who is a text book example of how absurd the whole new wave trends of the day were, his appearances are all wildly amusing. The movie also has a fair amount of quirky animations and dream sequences that offer visual pleasures for the eyes and bring childhood doodles to life. The movie is just a brilliant little idea and it plays out so very well in all the settings and the characters are extremely likable in all manners, the movie should play great for almost all ages

Before the Video Game there was the real thing: Imagination.

[Cinema_Fan · 8/10 · 9 April 2008]

Polar-opposites have never been so compatible, particularly with Garth Jennings (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 2005) latest outing with Son of Rambow. Introducing two new comers Bill Milner (Will) and Will Poulter (Lee Carter) as two young school kids who find that even in the unlikely of places there can be a common interest.

It is in this movie of bonding, friendships and Sylvester Stallone that this English summer of 1982 has our heroes sweating their days film-making, fighting off religious beliefs', struggling against indifference and putting up with French patter and pose. With their social differences, one belonging to the Plymouth Brethren and the other a feral child. This wild child's dream is to win the BBC's Screen Test short movie competition, a U.K. children's television show about Film, with its fifteen year lifespan ending in 1984, and take note of who is presented with the winning prize toward the end, no other than a young real life Jan "Ratatouille" Pinkava himself.

An English movie at heart, and with French overtones, adding too, a little quality and that finer touch to the proceedings we are given the wonderful Eric Sykes O.B.E., C.B.E. who plays his part with comic professionalism. This is one comic caper of kids using imagination, wit and determination to pass their long summer days, breaking down barriers and building new paths to tread. Wonderful stuff and with great dialogue too from director Jennings; funny, heart warming and blissfully satisfying to watch. While not too deep with character development, with what we have, we are most entertained and at times moved. Moved by its simplicity, its richness in the dealings of connections and conflicts between all involved on screen, albeit young Will's overbearing religious values and loving mother, Lee Carters isolation from his never present parents and of course, la tour de force; the Son of Rambow: The home movie.

The Son of Rambow is more than the sum of its parts, its about that old aged fable shown in many kids films, but in a different light, great coming-of-age movies as Christina Ricci's Now and Then (1995), River Phoenix's Stand by Me (1986) to the magic of The Goonies (1985). Son of Rambow is amusing to the point of hilarity, touching to the point of sentimentality and rewarding like a good home movie should be; made well with imagination, wit and determination.

I'll Pray for you Lee Carter

[ferguson-6 · 7/10 · 18 May 2008]

Greetings again from the darkness. The Sundance favorite is finally making the rounds and I found this to be a very entertaining and charming film, despite its relative simplicity.

A semi-autobiographical piece from writer/director Garth Jennings ("The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"), the film focuses on the escapades of two young boys making a movie. Along the way, many topics are addressed ... family, religion, friendship, loyalty, idol-worship, etc.

Bill Milner (as Will Proudfoot) and Will Poulter (as Lee Carter) are the newcomers who play the boys. Poulter is a near reincarnation of River Phoenix as Chris Chambers ("Stand By Me") as he carries so much bottled up emotion stemming from his longing for attention. Milner's character is the more sensitive, creative type being suffocated by his family's religion. Quite a pair.

As a commentary on film and celebrity, the two boy's world is rocked when their film-making is discovered. Now everyone wants a piece including the French exchange student, Didier, played hysterically well by Jules Sitruk. Character issues to follow!

The boys are so endearing that most kids would enjoy the film and certainly most adults who were still growing up in the 80's will get a kick out of it.

Skills

[davidlemon73 · 16 March 2008]

I had high hopes for this film as it's very much the era I grew up in.

I too wanted to send a film for 'Screen Test' (an 80s UK film quiz show for children's TV with a regular slot for home-made films) though I didn't get tosee Sly eating snakes and stitching up his arm till much later.

I'm happy to say that it didn't disappoint at all. The performances were wonderful (especially the young leads) and as well as having more than its fair share of laugh out loud moments, there's a real warmth and emotional truth to this story of friendship, growing up and blowing stuff up.

I really hope 'Son Of Rambow' is the hit it deserves to be.

A film about two very unlikely friends...and their movie.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 24 May 2020]

"Son of Rambow" is a cute and enjoyable film. However, it's one that has an amazingly unlikely ending and it has a few loose ends...but on balance it is worth seeing.

Will is a young boy who appears to be about 8 years-old who is very sad and lonely. This is because his family are members of an ultra-religious sect and Will isn't allowed to do many of the things other kids do. However, oddly, his mother sends him to school with other kids....kids who are NOT from this same religious order. But being an oddball, he's mostly alone...that is until he meets Lee Carter, the kid who's been voted most likely to go to prison before he reaches puberty!

So what do these two boys have in common? Well, they both want to make a movie....a sequel to "Rambo: First Blood"...and making films and hanging with this 'bad kid' is a serious breech of the rules for Will. And, what does a weird French foreign exchange student have to do with all this?

The film has some charming moments and the child actors did a very nice job. But the final portion of the film, while enjoyable, makes no sense and seems more formulaic than intelligently made. Still, it's a cute little film....and there aren't too many like it.

Sweet

[PipAndSqueak · 6/10 · 22 April 2008]

On a wet Sunday afternoon you could do well watching this very sweet depiction of boy fantasy made real. Will Poulter and Bill Milner are well cast and provide the perfect foil for each other. They are completely believable. The relative neglect of the two boys is very nicely nuanced, there is never any hint that the boys in any way find fault with their parents yet it is their parents who are responsible for the trouble they encounter in daily life. The cameo by Eric Sykes is at first quite maudlin but then becomes quaint. It has the same feel as the UK TV sitcom Gavin and Stacy. Affectionate, realistic and accepting. Come out of the cinema and say, Ahhhh!

Son of Rambow

[jboothmillard · 7/10 · 6 January 2012]

I had heard some good things about this film some time after its initial release, on a TV countdown or something, and apparently that it was a surprise hit, so I was very interested in seeing it, from director Garth Jennings (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy). Basically, set in 1982, shy and quiet schoolboy Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner) with a family that attend the Plymouth Brethren religious sect, which he is forbidden to watch television or films, including during school lessons. One day in the corridor he meets badly behaved troublesome Lee Carter (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader's Will Poulter), and after both accidentally causing a fish bowl to fall and break Lee volunteers to take the blame, and he pretends that there is torture involved in his punishment. To make up for it Will allows him to take his watch, which belonged to his dead father, and saying that he still owes him for taking the blame Lee wants Will's help to finish the film he is making, inspired by the recently released First Blood at the cinema. Lee is making a film to be entered for the Screen Test Young Film-Makers' Competition, and he is using the home video equipment that belongs to his older brother Lawrence (Ed Westwick) who bullies him, and with this camera he secretly filmed First Blood and makes pirate copies. Will accepts helping make the film doing the stunt work he needs, as he saw the film First Blood himself and can't get it out of his head, he is very enthusiastic about being his own action hero, doing some slightly dangerous stunts. As time goes by what started as nervous tension turns into friendship for the two boys, they even make the pledge to become "blood brothers", but of course Will has to keep his friendship a secret as Lee is said to be a bad influence. New French exchange student Didier Revol (Jules Sitruk) arrives and quickly becomes very popular amongst the curious school boys, and when some of the others find out about this film project he in particular is keen to be part of it, Will says he can join, but Lee feels he is no longer in control and quits. There is some filming done without him, but he does come back when Will is trapped under some unstable structures that collapse at the abandoned power station, even though he was only coming to get the camera back. Lee ends up getting injured himself and forced to go to hospital, and when Lawrence visits him he is angry that he has been using the camera, and that it is broken, and even though Will's mother Mary (Jessica Hynes/Stevenson) isn't happy, she does allow him to be himself and even leaves the Brethren. Lawrence has a look for himself at the footage that has been filmed, and he is impressed, and with Will's help he makes his own participation in the film, a message to his brother. Lee leaves the hospital, and as a surprise he is taken to the cinema, and before the main film Yentl their completed film is Shown, Son of Rambow, at first the audience are tittering, but as they settle into it they love it, and it ends with applause and Lee and Will are reunited. Also starring Neil Dudgeon as Joshua, Eric Sykes as Frank, EastEnders' Anna Wing as Grandma and Sam Kubrick-Finney, Stanley Kubrick's grandson as Danny. Newcomer Milner gives an adorable performance as the quiet and then brightened up boy, and Poulter is also really good as the misbehaving and bully like for a while but slowly changed for the better friend, together they make a great duo. It is a good fun story about two boys making their own film based on the popular Sylvester Stallone hero, the friendship is believable, and the actual filmmaking process makes for some good giggles, and the subplots with the two boys and their home lives makes for realistically dramatic moments, this will appeal to the younger and older audience members, a fun to watch comedy drama. It was nominated the BAFTA for the Carl Foreman Award for the Most Promising Newcomer for Jennings (writer). Very good!

Exceeded expectations, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[felicity-16 · 9/10 · 8 April 2008]

It helped that I'd been warned to expect something a little more substantial than just a Rambo spoof (apparently suggested by trailers and bus advertising), which is possibly why my flatmate's boyfriend didn't enjoy it.

That doesn't mean though that guys won't enjoy this film as much as my girlfriends and I did. It follows similar themes to 'Stand by Me' (the classic starring River Phoenix), such as childhood loyalty and comradeship, but in a typically British fashion with understated humour, quirky comedy, and some nice references to 80s Britain.

Genuine laugh out loud moments, poignant and uplifting, and it can also just be appreciated as a well made film, with good acting, dialogue and direction.

An educational joy to watch

[Mr-Mingz · 7/10 · 8 April 2008]

I thought this film was simply easy to watch and was entertaining in the form of an 80s schoolboy dream.

I found it astonishing, how two very young actors, Will Poulter and Bill Milner can make the film what it is today, an utter joy to watch. Both of these boys are fantastic actors and prove their skill in this production of heart-filled drama and mild humour.

I found it a shame that Jessica Hynes (Nee Stevenson) was her usual funny self but nevertheless she brought her motherly role to life. This film was certainly educational and it was interesting how Garth Jennings gives us a lesson in school-life in the 80s.

This film certainly goes in my good books.

Engaging and hilarious

[Robert_Woodward · 9/10 · 17 April 2008]

Son of Rambow, set in 1980's England, tells the story of two young schoolboys making a home-video addition to the Rambo series. This promising theme gives rise to one of the most hilarious comedies in recent cinema, memorable not only for countless laugh-out-loud moments but also for its engaging and unexpectedly moving story.

Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner) and Lee Carter (Will Poulter) are a chalk and cheese pairing, thrown together by chance after being summoned to detention at school. Will, from a fatherless family in the grip of the austerely religious Brethren, is a heart-warmingly polite boy harbouring a boundlessly artistic imagination; Carter, from a parentless household, is a lonely rebel with a total lack of respect for everyone except his astoundingly self-absorbed brother, marvellously played by Ed Westwick. And yet, following their chance encounter, the situation where naïve and amiable Will is exploited by sharp-witted and seemingly cynical Carter is replaced by mounting empathy and friendship between the two, alternately spurred and severed by their family backgrounds and their turbulent film-making.

The two leads are remarkable debut actors, making the story touching and believable and realising the film's comic potential. Poulter is hilarious in the role of Carter, delivering stinging wit and outraged putdowns with aplomb. The shooting of the film provides some hysterical contrasts between grown-up pretensions and childlike absurdity, with gun-battle sequences ripped straight from 'Rambo: First Blood' interspersed with footage of a flying dog attack.

The overlapping secondary story, portraying the school-playground infatuation with the New Wave style of French exchange student Didier, is also a rich seam of humour; the stinging parody of teenage culture culminates in Will and Carter's visit to the school common room, populated by posing, pogoing teens. The supporting cast of adults also includes some fine comic actors, including Jessica Stevenson (notably of TV comedy Spaced) and Adam (of the Adam and Joe Show fame).

Writer-director Garth Jennings skilfully weaves together the overlapping worlds of children, teenagers and adults in this film with excellent dialogue and cinematography. The camera-work is striking in many places, particularly the opening montage of front gardens, with Lee riding his bike past and casually causing havoc. The film also benefits from its bubbly soundtrack, composed by Joby Talbot. This is a superb comedy and definitely the best Rambo film ever.

Quietly emotional, and well-judged

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 9 January 2018]

SON OF RAMBOW is a light and engaging little rites-of-passage tale set in the 1980s. The youthful protagonists are a pair of mixed-up kids entranced by a pirate video of the Stallone hit FIRST BLOOD, so they decide to shoot their own version of Rambo in the woods. The story gets complicated by the intervention of various other oddball characters, including a flamboyant French exchange student and a Christian sect. I was pleased to see that as a buddy movie this has no needless romance tacked onto the story. It's best watched to enjoy the breakout talents of Will Poulter, who, as with THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER, is the best thing in the movie and quite the superb actor even at an early age.

Essential Feel good Entertainment

[chimbers22 · 10/10 · 14 November 2007]

I was lucky enough to see this film at a private screening in London and i'm happy to say it really does live up to the hype. You can see why Paramount bought this film for $8 million (a record for any film being bought at Sundance) as they will surely make ten times that.

This film has something for everyone; laughter, emotion and enough nostalgic material from the 80's to keep any generation from that decade and previous ones happy.

I was also extremely impressed with the two young unknown (at the point of this review) leads. It's worth seeing this film just for their performances.

The film the two boys make within the film is quite charming too and is itself better than most of the crap being made today, even if it is essentially a home movie being filmed in some woods with a camcorder.

Quite simply a modern day classic and will no doubt hold a space in all film buffs DVD collection.

Well Done!

imaginative love of filmmaking

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 12 October 2016]

Will Proudfoot is a shy young boy and imaginative writer. His widower mother Mary (Jessica Hynes) is extremely religious. Their church pickets outside the theater showing Rambo's First Blood. On the other hand, Lee Carter is a ne'er-do-well pirating the movie inside the theater. The cigarette-smoking juvenile delinquent Lee Carter gets them both in trouble and lies to Will to get him working on his movie. Will rewrites the character as the son of Rambo. There are new French foreign exchange students and the English kids all fall for Didier Revol who soon gathers a cadre of followers. Lee gets suspended. Despite having girls lined up to kiss him, Didier is bored and gets Will to put him in the movie. There is a change in the power dynamic between Will and Lee.

Lee Carter comes off as a real jerk for more than half of the movie. The two boys' relationship needs a bit more massaging. Lee needs to show more vulnerability at the beginning and a couple of touches of actual friendship with Will. It keeps the comedy from really elevating when I hate the lead character who is suppose to be appealing. There is an overall love of movie-making and a joy of a coming-of-age movie.

The IMDb reviews don't ring true!

[khunkrumark · 3/10 · 23 June 2017]

A complicated and uneven weave of almost unrelated scenes makes this story of boyhood friendship difficult to enjoy.

The film is owned by Will Poulter, the talented terror of his school. Without him, this would have been unwatchable. How talented is he? Well, almost at the end of the film we see him as he acts being an actor in his own home-made film. That few seconds of genius sealed the deal for me.

Other actors do their bit and for viewers of a certain age (like me) it was great fun to see Eric Sykes turn in a cameo as a hapless patient in an old people's home. Yeah, Google the name, kids... he was once 'the' face of good-natured family entertainment on British television in a bygone era.

The school common room scene is worth rewinding for, but unfortunately, much of the film is forgettable as it twists and turns the viewer into too many directions at once. This has the effect of thinning the impact of what should have been the peripheral but important characters of the show.

It's only after the common room scene that the film slows down long enough for the message of the story to start to reveal itself. But by then we're an hour in and it's too late.

The whole daft side-angle of the French exchange students should have been abandoned in favour of time spent on the two boys, their developing friendship, their families and backgrounds.

In addition, the director and editors have forced us to guess what's happening as key events are glossed over during the fragmented, rapid-fire collage of scenes. Finally, the 'tie-ups' at the end are hurried, unrealistic and contrived.

There are dozens of adoring and excited reviews for this film here and mine will be buried at the back somewhere... but I can't help thinking that there's something a bit suspicious about many of them. You'd think that this was The Godfather or something!

C-. Must try harder!

Rolls, Lightening

[tedg · 18 June 2009]

Gosh, another movie that is well conceived and poorly executed, this time built around what I call folding. Storywise, it is between "Be Kind, Rewind," and "Is There?" which features the same boy actor, the same setting of an English privately run old folks' home in 80's England and the same parental issues.

Here the main fold is a movie about a kid making a movie that is based on another movie. The following is true of both the movie we see and the movie we see being made: the result is bad, but we are told that it is endearing so we are supposed to let the poor film-making pass.

The extra origami is planned to come from folding this into two other "performances." One is the roles invented and played by schoolchildren to convince themselves and each other that they matter. This comes from the bully role of the buddy who starts the movie, a situation of a preening "cool" French kid who is visiting, and what appears to be a severely cut series of episodes involving older kids and their comparatively comic roles and costumes.

The other is the notion of prescribed roles that must be played by parents, here prescribed by religious rules.

The folds as written are combined clumsily. The map to religion we "see" by visions of an imagined story that becomes the movie within, but presented as drawings superimposed on the pages of a Bible. To map to the schoolyard bits, we have similar drawings on the walls of the school. Its a bit literal, but it gets worse: when the inner movie takes off is when the role played by the French kid and his posse map into the roles in the Rambo film, the merger literally happened in a church, with some obviously deliberate staging.

And there is even a focus on watching and watches, and not one but two demented elderly watchers.

Get it? Jees. So much for the writing, but you have to give the writer-director credit for also working on folding these elements in the cinematic sense. There are transitions between "real life" and the various inner roles and stories. Unfortunately, this visual overlapping is done with two distinctly different kinds of animation, neither of which match the various forms of drawings from the boy through whose eyes we see all this.

If I had an annotation tool that pointed to scenes, I could show how all this tries to work and could have with a bit more visual coherence.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

My Review

[joemamaohio · 7/10 · 24 August 2008]

Young Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner) lives with a devoutly religious family, and he's told not to associate with ruffians. Along comes the local bad boy at school, Lee Carter (Will Poulter), who wants to make a movie and enlists Will's help.

Will sees "First Blood" and falls in love with Rambo, and centers his story around being the son of Rambow and rescuing him from an evil scarecrow. As the boys continue making the film, they slowly become friends, then eventually blood brothers.

But when a French exchange student named Didier (Jules Sitruk) comes to town, he becomes the center of attention, and Will includes him and all his friends in the film, ostracizing Lee, who becomes angry and bitter towards Will.

After an accident, however, the boys realize the true meaning of friendship and what it really means to be a brother.

"Son of Rambow" brings viewers back to the innocence of youth, what it means to be a kid, and shows the value and longevity of friendship, even when you find it in the most unexpected places. A truly excellent film with stellar performances, one that shouldn't be missed.

Screen Time

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 7 May 2014]

Screen Test was a BBC children's quiz that included a segment where young viewers sent in home made films and the best one in each series received a prize. Only once did the producers think that the short film clip was so good that the young filmmaker could not possibly have made it and investigated the matter further. However they were satisfied and future Oscar winner Jan Pinkava received his prize and this moment is shown in Son of Rambow.

In fact the pursuit to make a short film in order for it to be entered to be shown in Screen Test is central to the plot of this film as two mismatched school kids come together to make a film. Will Poulter is a rebel, a scoundrel and a disruptive influence at school who borrows his brother's camera and shoots his film on the side. Bill Milner is from a very religious family, not even allowed to watch television at school and hooks up with Poulter who persuades him to act as a stuntman in his movie and becomes enchanted with the movie process that fires his imagination especially as he watches a pirate version of First Blood.

There is a side plot of visiting students from France who hook up with the young movie moguls which in turn causes conflict between the two lads who have become blood brothers.

The film is inspired by young kids making home movies in the 1980s and not all of them were for Screen Test. The team behind Son of Rambow clearly remember some young kids (as do I) making their own version of Indiana Jones in their backyard which was shown in Barry Norman's film review show.

It is feel good film not solely aimed at kids as it also bleeds nostalgia for the 1980s. However although the films reflect the fact that the film might be set in the early 1980s, the fashion, clothes and music indicate a more mid to late 1980s settings.

Great - but probably only for a very particular audience

[shieldspt · 7/10 · 3 December 2011]

An endearing, feel-good (unless you're Plymouth Brethren!), 1980's nostalgia fest. A bit of a cross between "Kes" & "Gregory's Girl". If you haven't watched either of those 2 films - or if you have watched them and didn't like them - then I doubt whether this film will do much for you.

If you can't relate to being in awe of a 'cool' French exchange student; or the thrill of being allowed in the hallowed ground of a 6th form common room; or dancing to The Cure, Duran Duran & Gary Numan, then you're unlikely to feel much of a connection with the characters in this film. It has so many uniquely 1980's British cultural references I suspect a lot of overseas audiences will be left just scratching their heads.

I also don't understand why they had to have so much bad language & blasphemy in it otherwise it would have been a really good family film. Why do British film producers do that? :o(

Much better than the trailer - heart warming and lovable

[rabbitmoon · 10/10 · 23 March 2008]

When I saw the trailer for this film, it looked like another corny British comedy. The film itself is much, much better than that, as someone else has said it feels more like a Michael Gondry film. Very idiosyncratic, quirky and confident in what it does, with many laugh-out-loud moments. What I enjoyed most of all was how some really nice themes and subplots started to innocently dovetail with the story, never feeling contrived, or overly sentimental. There were some great touches where the writer/director chose to imply or suggest something without going overboard - which makes for a much more warming experience than the usual obvious and clunky approach in British screen writing. The acting was superb. This film will appeal to many, many people for different reasons - I just hope they are encouraged and inspired enough to go and see it. I hope that word of mouth does this film the justice it deserves. Go see it!!

A decent film inspired in a horrible film

[acetylcholinenjoyer · 6/10 · 1 September 2011]

No matter how much I try, I never was able to understood what's so great about the "Rambo" flicks. I always hated those stupid and overrated films, and personally I think that "First Blood" was one of the worst movies ever made.

Maybe for that reason I wasn't able to enjoy so much this film...I guess if you feel nostalgic about the 80's (One of my least favorite decades...) you will enjoy more this film. I mean, this is a decent dramedy, with some good scenes and great performances, but is nothing particularly memorable or outstanding.

The story is merely entertaining, but that's it. Anyway, if you feel nostalgic about the 80's, probably you will enjoy this film more.

Almost Perfect

[mrwoodz511 · 10/10 · 3 April 2008]

If you sometimes feel like all you watch are big-budget 'blockbuster' movies this is the film to remind you what movie-making should be.

Attended a preview screening this week, and can't wait for the weekend so I can go back and watch it again. The screening was packed, and the general reaction definitely agreed with my own.

There are several 'laugh-out-loud' moments, from the opening titles, to the touching climax, and at many points in between, in a well written, perfectly paced film. I am someone who goes to a lot of movies, and sometimes find myself checking my watch, but this draws you in from the start, and it never loses you.

Probably has most appeal for those , like myself, who were in the UK in the 80's but I'm sure it has appeal for all, and hope the two leads go on to further success in the future. There is an innocent charm about the lead pairing, and the movie as a whole, that should transcend national and cultural boundaries.

Sloppy attention to period detail, but a good movie

[seawalker · 6/10 · 5 May 2008]

"Son Of Rambow" is a nice little film about a pair of lonely little boys who, one summer in the early 80's, decide to make their own sequel to "Rambo: First Blood" to enter into the "Screen Test" young filmmakers competition. "Son Of Rambow" is about realising the importance of family, growing up, making friends and knowing that sometimes (puts on very sincere voice), friends, you just have to follow your dream.

I thought that "Son Of Rambow" was really funny, kind of touching and, according to my Brother who was a schoolboy circa 1983, really accurate as to what it was like to go to an English comprehensive school at that time. There are great performances by the two main leads: Will Poulter as the Artful Dodgeresque Lee Carter, a rascal, thief and blagger, ignored by his family, and Bill Milner as Will Proudfoot, a boy stifled by the rigid and antiseptic religious community he has been born into, whose life is changed forever by the power of the movies.

One thing that I most definitely did not like was the sloppy attention to period detail. "Son Of Rambow" is set no later than 1983. Brian Trueman is shown as the presenter of "Screen Test", and "Rambo: First Blood" was released worldwide circa 1982/83. So far so good.

So, how could "The Reflex" by Duran Duran be played at the school disco, when the version played in the film, remixed from the track on "Seven And The Ragged Tiger", was not released until 1984? Ditto "Peek-A-Boo" by Siouxsie & The Banshees, a single not released until 1988? Also, an audience is seen waiting to watch the film "Yentl". That film did not come out in the UK until 1984. I am sure there may well be other discrepancies.

That aside "Son Of Rambow" is a good film, but remember to take your hankies for the end.

Fantastic movie.

[coreyalexander · 10/10 · 6 April 2008]

This movie just screened at the Florida Film Festival in Orlando, Fl. The crowd applauded, laughed and cheered throughout. This should be a big hit if it has a wide release in May. I loved the fact the film was set in the mid-80's, when I was also a student in junior high school. The soundtrack to the film was a lot of fun with hits by Depeche Mode and Cars by Gary Neuman. Also, I swear that I saw the band members of Travis in a scene shot in the faculty lounge of the school. I think the film is equally rewarding for both children and adults and will also be appreciated by anyone who love the art of cinema. I honestly can't imagine anyone not being moved and amused by this little film.

OK but over-hyped Brit comedy

[JoeytheBrit · 6/10 · 18 December 2008]

Son of Rambow is both a victim and beneficiary of the incredible hype it enjoyed upon its first release. A victim because no film is ever as good as the level of hype suggests, and a beneficiary because similar small-budget films rarely get the level of publicity (and subsequent moolah) Rambow enjoyed. The film itself is diverting enough, with some inventive moments, but subtlety is sometimes abandoned in favour of the sledgehammer approach.

In order for the film's message to get across, it's necessary for Bill Milner's Will Proudfoot to have a sheltered upbringing and this is achieved by having his mother a member of an Amish-type religious order. I've seen groups of people spouting the bible in town centres and bus stations, but I 've never heard of a British order eschewing all modern appliances – to the degree that Will is barred from even watching educational TV programmes in school – and wearing dresses and headclothes straight out of the 19th Century American mid-west. I could be wrong, there may be thousands of people living like that in the UK, but it just comes across as an ill thought out plot device that distracts the audience.

At the core of the story is the burgeoning friendship between two opposites – Will and the rebellious Lee Carter (Will Poulter) – which is adequately – if predictably handled – and the suppression of individuality and creativity by marginalised religions. Imagination offers both boys a means of temporary escape from the problems in their lives and they combine their own devices to create a sequel to Rambo. There are sub-plots running through the story, the major one being about the need to appreciate real friendship over the desire for popularity amongst one's peers – yeah, that's right: the evergreen 'be true to yourself message.'

The two boys perform well - although not outstandingly - for beginners and, overall, Son of Rambow is painless, undemanding entertainment. There's very little out of the ordinary about it, and the last couple of reels don't really tie things up as adroitly as they perhaps should, but you probably won't feel cheated of the cost of a rental.

Disappointed by Son of Rambow -- spoiler included

[thos173 · 3/10 · 6 April 2008]

This movie annoyed me so much.

Instances - the stereotyping of the past, so yes, it's the 80s, so yes, everybody smokes all the time, like in the teachers' common room, and in the cinema; the crass stigmatisation of the Plymouth Brethren; the "budget" of non-pcness that the film allowed itself - oooh! they said "spazzy" - and the thought-processes that contribute to it - to show how non-pc people were in the 80s.

Clunking non-sequiturs - why was Didier ostracised right at the end of the film when there had been absolutely no sign that his fellow-students thought him anything but super-cool? A really irresponsible notion that you can light a cigarette by connecting yourself to mains voltage.

The suggestion that a man with a pair of scissors up his nose is an object of mirth.

Jumbled landscapes - derelict power station (?Notts) adjacent to rolling dales (?Dorset?Peak District) - or maybe that's what it's like in Tring, must go there - and accents - estuary, cut glass etc - like the film makers have got to tick every box of inclusivity to get their FilmFour grant - at least it wasn't Film Council, who have been responsible for some real horrors.

There were five minutes at the beginning of the film when I thought, good, I'm glad I've come to see this. Then the cringing began and I ended up thinking, why does the British film industry have the endless capacity to do this to itself?

My son liked it, though.