Son of Rambow

The name Son of Rambow
conjures images of some hot young actor like Shia LaBeouf trekking
through the mountains of Afghanistan, dodging Taliban attacks while
searching for a captured Sylvester Stallone. Rest assured, this is not
what you will get from this refreshingly creative twist on the coming-of-age genre.

Director Garth Jennings’s (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy)
semi-autobiographical story is sweet and funny with a heartwarming
narrative about the forming of a true friendship. Jennings made his own
versions of First Blood as a child and coupled those
experiences with some stories from producer Nick Goldsmith’s childhood
to assemble the initial script.

Schoolmates
Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner) and Lee Carter (Will Poulter) are the
unlikeliest of pairs. They meet by pure chance when Lee gets
expelled from his classroom for disobedience and encounters Will, who
is sitting in the hallway because his family’s beliefs, as members of
The Brethren evangelical christian movement, preclude him from watching
television or even films shown at school. Lee proceeds to get Will in
trouble, as well, and blackmails him into paying him a fee for taking
the blame. Thus, their dysfunctional friendship begins.

Lee then guilts Will into coming over to his house, where he is exposed to his first movie … a pirated copy of First Blood that
Lee filmed at a local movie theater for his brother’s bootlegging
business. Hilarity ensues when Will gets swept up in the action and
agrees to star in Lee’s makeshift re-make of the film.

The filming of the movie begins with the two friends having a great time acting out scenes from First Blood
with a reckless abandon that only two young and fearless boys could
muster, making for some fun and amusing scenes. But things start to get
complicated as fellow students begin to hear about the film and the
making of the movie interferes with the boys’ commitments to their
families, and vice versa.

Lee
is constantly on edge due to an undying loyalty to his self-centered
and manipulative brother who, despite all his flaws, is closer to him
than his absent parents. Will’s family, on the other hand, wants to spend all their time together in prayerful solitude, but the
lure of starring in a movies becomes too tempting. His mother is being
courted by one of the elders of the group, who influences her to take a
firmer grip on Will’s activities.

The
plot gets even more complicated as some of the boys’ fellow students
hear about the movie and want to participate … notably the popular
new French exchange student Didier. As their friends begin to get more
and more involved, mostly at Will’s request, and familial obligations
present themselves, there becomes a rift in the two boys’ relationship.
While filming the final scene, an automobile accident threatens to end
the film and the boys’ relationship altogether.

The mixture of slapstick humor and heartwarming drama make Son of Rambow a unique fresh treat for moviegoers. The
rich cast of characters, including the members of The Brethren, Didier
and his entourage and Lee’s self-centered older brother are a welcome
homage to some of the great coming of age comedies of the 1980’s like Better Off Dead and Weird Science. But there is a genuineness to Son of Rambow that leaves you laughing, but warm and fuzzy, at the same time … something you wouldn’t have gotten from a Son of Rambo movie.

Starts Friday at the Lagoon Theater.