Jennings is clearly having a wonderful time recreating the fantasies of his youth, but sometimes his perspective get a little too inbred, and the picture suffers for it.
Son of Rambow (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:26
Fresh:19
Rotten:7
Average Rating:6.8/10
Consensus: Undeniable heart and charming young leads save the film's nostalgic storyline from suffering at the hands predictability.
Theatrical Release:May 2, 2008 Limited
Box Office: $1,612,881
Synopsis: Writer-director Garth Jennings and producer Nick Goldsmith, who as Hammer & Tongs have made music videos for such groups as Fatboy Slim, Supergrass, Blur, and REM, follow up their 2005 film, THE... Writer-director Garth Jennings and producer Nick Goldsmith, who as Hammer & Tongs have made music videos for such groups as Fatboy Slim, Supergrass, Blur, and REM, follow up their 2005 film, THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, with the charming indie SON OF RAMBOW, a love letter to the movies. A success at such festivals as Toronto and Sundance, SON OF RAMBOW stars Bill Milner as Will Proudfoot, a shy, reserved young boy who is different from the other kids because his family is part of the Brethren, a religion that shuns the outside world, not allowing him to have friends at school or to watch television. While in the hallway in school one day because he can't watch an educational film in class, Will gets into a fight with Lee Carter (Will Poulter), a tough kid who gets into trouble all the time. Lee forces Will to help him make a homemade version of the Sylvester Stallone film FIRST BLOOD, but after watching the original, Will is captivated by the movie and writes his own sequel, casting himself as the son of Rambow (he misspells the name of the character). Will and Lee use their imagination and lots of grit to get the project off the ground, bonding as only blood brothers can. But soon the entire school wants to participate in the movie, including ultra-cool French exchange student Didier Revol (Jules Sitruk), jeopardizing the integrity of the production as well as Will and Lee's growing friendship. Milner and Poulter, both making their feature-film debuts, are engaging as the lead characters. Jennings sets SON OF RAMBOW in the 1980s, before cell phones, digital cameras, and YouTube changed the way people communicate. Amid a soundtrack that includes music from such seminal period bands as The Cure and Depeche Mode, the two young boys learn about family and friendship, jealousy and ego as their carefully controlled worlds threaten to implode. [More]
Starring: Will Poulter, Bill Milner, Jules Sitruck, Charlie Thrift
Starring: Will Poulter, Bill Milner, Jules Sitruck, Charlie Thrift, Jessica Stevenson, Neil Dudgeon
Director: Garth Jennings
Director: Garth Jennings
Screenwriter: Garth Jennings
Producer: Nick Goldsmith
Composer: Joby Talbot
Studio: Paramount Vantage
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Release:
Aug 26, 2008
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case
- Full Frame - 1.33
- Letterbox - 1.85
Audio:
- Dolby Digital - English
Additional Release Material:
Featurette:
- 1. Boys Will Be Boys: The Making of Son of Rambow
- 2. Son of Rambow Website Winner
Audio Commentary:
- 1. Commentary with Director Garth Jennings, Producer Nick Goldsmith, Bill Milner and Will Poulter
Shorts:
- 1. Garth's Short Film "Aron"
Reviews for Son of Rambow
We cringe and laugh at -- and are ultimately moved by -- their clumsiness and innocence. And it endears us to the Rambo films in ways we never could have anticipated.
Son of Rambow is an inventive and amusing coming-of-age movie that deftly entwines elements of farce and fantasy, rebelliousness and sentiment, while paying seriously funny tribute to the transcendent power of art.
These two boys have, along with writer-director Garth Jennings, turned a coming-of-age story into a treatise on both the fragility of artistic vision and the danger of popular opinion.
After the movie, I imagined its writer-director, Garth Jennings (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) being more than a little like Will, and the movie uncannily similar to one of Will's comic epics.
Son of Rambow is filled with small surprises and treasures, a veritable bounty of delight.
The rapport between the two rogue cineastes is enough to carry both films: the one they're making and the one Jennings is trying to make.
Plenty happens, but little of it advances the action, until the finale, which is lovely, but would have been a lot lovelier after 35 minutes, not 90.
Few movies have captured the intoxicating effect of pop culture on kids better than Son of Rambow.
I can't imagine a better movie for children and adults to enjoy together.
The kid-heavy cast tends to substitute enthusiasm for subtlety, but the way they throw their hearts into their games just makes it easier to get drawn in.
All part of growing up, an experience Son of Rambow portrays with genuine insight.
That unashamed passion for movies explains why, even when it gets a little too sweet in its final scenes, Rambow remains true to itself and to Will and Lee's friendship.
For a film about falling in love with the movies, its insights on them are next to nil.
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