Son of Rambow will rekindle audience’s love of film
British comedy about two childhood friends is about love, friendship and new adventures
By Tim French, Staff Writer
Photo courtesy of Paramount Vantage
Bill Milner (right) stars as “Will Proudfoot” and Will Poulter (left) as “Lee Carter” in Garth Jennings’ and Nick Goldsmith’s Son of Rambow, opening May 2 in limited release.
When one hears a movie title like Son of Rambow, it would be easy to conclude it’s the next terrible installment in Sylvester Stallone’s second film franchise. This would be both a mistake and terrible mistreatment of a fine film.
Son of Rambow tells the story of two childhood friends in England. The main character, Will, has grown up in a very religious household where he has never watched television, never been allowed to see a movie. His best friend, Lee Carter, is a bad apple who lives with his brother in an old folks’ home.
When Carter tricks Will into helping him get out of some trouble, Will is exposed to an amazing new world. He watches his first movie – First Blood, the first installment of Stallone’s Rambo series. Will becomes an instant fan and soon imagines himself as the son of Rambo. Carter seizes his friend’s newfound love of Rambo, and the pair decide to create their own franchise installment – Son of Rambow.
Throughout the movie, many themes become apparent. The first one is friendship, which becomes a major plot point when fellow students ask to be included in the movie – a development that threatens Carter’s original vision for the storyline. Another theme is the love of movies: Son of Rambow is an ode to movies that is perfected by writer/ director Garth Jennings (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy).
Son of Rambow is a British comedy, and it features some Brit references that may go over some Americans’ heads. Another possible downer for American parents is that Rambow is marketed as a family film. It includes some scenes of children smoking and cursing, and that may hurt somewhat at the American box office.
Make no mistake, though. This movie shines where Jennings is at his best – showing two young boys’ love of film.
Jennings has done an amazing job of delivering this vision to the audience. He has stated that Son of Rambow is intended to be a loose adaptation of his childhood adventures in filmmaking. Those experiences helped him tell this tale well.
Cast members are all relative unknowns. The two leads are young boys in their first film. Yet, their fantastic portrayals of Will and Carter could not have been eclipsed by more experienced actors.
Son of Rambow is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. While it may not be nominated for any Academy Awards, this flick does exactly what it sets out to do – rekindle the audience’s love of film.
Go see this movie. You will not regret it. Son of Rambow will appear in limited release, beginning May 2.