Son Of Rambow Review

Son Of Rambow reviews

Movie

Son Of Rambow

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2008-05-08 21:43:23

Rating

2.5/5

Provider

CinemaSource

Review

This potential summer sleeper is loaded with charm and laughs but also has a tendency to lapse into heavy-handedness.

Story

Set in the early 1980s, the film follows young Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner) as he tentatively deals with the early pangs of adolescent rebellion. It only takes one viewing of Sylvester Stallone in the original First Blood, combined with an unlikely friendship with cocky classmate Lee Carter (Will Poulter), to inspire Will to become more assertive and question authority. This doesn't sit too well with Will's widowed, devoutly religious mother (Jessica Stevenson), but it ultimately makes her re-evaluate her relationship with her son. While most of their classmates are preoccupied with a group of French foreign-exchange students, Will and Lee team up to produce their own, makeshift sequel to First Blood (even if they somehow misspell Rambo's name). In doing so, they cement their friendship--perhaps the first genuine friendship of either boy's life--but there are also circumstances that threaten to bring their youthful camaraderie crashing down.

Acting

The engaging, unforced performances of Milner and Poulter--both making their big-screen bows--go a long, long way toward any success that Son of Rambow can claim for itself. There's also a memorably quirky turn by Jules Sitruk as Didier, the "coolest" of the French exchange students, and a riotous appearance by long-time British favorite Eric Sykes, playing what amounts to a geriatric, bed-ridden Rambo (arguably the film's funniest scene).

Direction

Writer/director Garth Jennings (of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame) has a good feel for the way kids act and talk, and he brings an exuberant irreverence to much of the proceedings, but it's in the characterization of the film's adult characters where the effort falls a little short. When Son of Rambow turns serious, the transition from humor to pathos is sometimes awkward--and whenever the focus of the film drifts away from Will and Lee, the momentum flags. Nevertheless, the film has a strong capacity to connect with audiences of all ages and may well find one this summer.

Bottom Line

Hollywood.com rated this film 2 1/2 stars.

Copyright © CinemaSource 2008.

Movie

Son Of Rambow

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2008-03-28 17:40:15

Provider

MRIB

Review

Son Of Rambow is so loveable it could give heart-warming movies a good name. Only the second film from director Garth Jennings, it's just as much a product of the 1980s as his first, the screen adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guides To The Galaxy, though infinitely more earthbound.

It follows the adventures of two very different tweenies - Will (Bill Milner), brought up in a strict religious community, and Lee Carter (Will invariably calls him by both first and surname), played by Will Poulter with the sort of winning mischief that made the Artful Dodger an icon for boys of all ages. Lee is the school troublemaker, Will so strait-laced he may as well have a target strapped to his back. Sure enough, when he's sitting out his class' instructional video (the rules of the sect forbid watching telly), Lee smacks him in the face with a tennis ball, robs him and adopts him as his new friend.

The pair become obsessed with a bootleg video of First Blood, the world's introduction to Sylvester Stallone's John Rambo and the first film Will has ever seen. Lee, whose retirement home-owning but permanently absent mother, has left him and his brother with a video camera, wants to recreate the film, using Will as his stunt/leading man. But when supercool French exchange student Dider (Jules Sitruk) rolls into school, pursued by a pack of adoring girls, the dynamic changes. Didier wants to be the star. Will is delighted, Lee aghast as he senses his control slipping away. The resulting lessons about friendship, loyalty and seeing beyond the surface (Didier's French classmates all think he's a clown, it transpires) are all learnt with honesty, thanks to a script so deft it makes a mockery of Jennings' comparative inexperience.

Son Of Rambow is delightful, nostalgic, but never schlocky - if you only watch one Stallone-related film this year, make it this one. Unlike John Rambo's misfiring latest, Son Of Rambow hits the bullseye.

Copyright © MRIB 2008.