Arts & Entertainment

Movie Review: Son Of Rambow

Son of Rambow

Garth Jennings succeeds with a fresh film and great first time child performances.


Much better than this year’s earlier Be Kind Rewind blowup Son of Rambow is lively fare that also tackles some hard issues like bullying with varying degrees of success. '
By Citizen Correspondent Robert Waldman
Date Posted: 05/17/08
Reader Rating: rating

He has his share of fights and he’s not above bullying the next kid on the block. Rough around the edges Lee gets into loads of trouble, unlike the rather meek Will Proudfoot. Hailing from a broken home himself our Will leads a rather cloistered life, shrouded in a mysterious veil of religion.

Class time can lead to strange bedfellows and this pair of opposites come together under the most unusual circumstance. Like most children these blokes love to act and dream of becoming stars. Only this pair takes the stardom thing to new levels as they embark on doing an ambitious update of the classic Rambo actioner. Through ridiculous stunts and unconventional dialogue our Cecil B Demilles in training tailor quite an amateur little flick. Aided and abetted by members of the student body Will and Lee bring forth quite the blockbuster while at the same time learning all about themselves and the meaning of life.

Writer/director Garth Jennings (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) succeeds here in pulling off a fresh film which boasts great first time child performances. Will Poulter and Bill Milner are both excellent as the dueling boys whose hostility towards one another gets slowly overturned once the camera rolls. Use of classic Sylvester Stallone footage from the original shot in British Columbia First Blood saga provides the impetus for the boys and they never lose sight of the prize.

Much better than this year’s earlier Be Kind Rewind blowup Son of Rambow is lively fare that also tackles some hard issues like bullying with varying degrees of success. Family dynamics and a good school atmosphere provides lots of room for friction between our two protagonists who are more than up to the challenge to spar and then bond in unprecedented ways.

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