A young Brethren boy and a school bully make for quite a duo in the movie Son of Rambow. A coming-of-age story set in the early '80s, the movie takes an isolated Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner), whose religion forbids TV and music, and introduces him to a pirated copy of First Blood with Sylvester Stallone.
Almost instantly a chain of events is put into motion as Will joins bully and thief Lee Carter (Will Poulter) in attempt to make their own epic movie for the Young Film-Makers competition called Son of Rambow (a title carrying a child-like typo). Ambitious and reckless, the two boys engage themselves in the roller-coaster adventure montage of everyday life, sorrows, and joy, comparable to Be Kind Rewind, Hamlet 2, and Juno.
Director and writer Garth Jennings, of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005), sets the film to a fast and easy pace as the boys grow as friends and individuals. With references to Yentl and Patrick Swayze in The Outsiders, and First Blood, along with several sightings of the infamously large first cell phones, Jennings uses the same vividly imaginative visuals and editing that Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy had. Only no manically depressed robot and towels are present in this filming adventure.
It isn’t easy being a member of a strict Brethren household and discovering the colorful and exciting world of movies. Already wildly imaginative, his Bible almost completely sketched and colored in, Will isn’t so much denying his faith at first as he is being hoodwinked by Lee. And yet, as he grows, he begins to juggle being a good son, a good Brethren, to being the son of Rambow, an adventurous boy who fights ninjas, flying dogs, and father-napping scarecrows. All the while he’s struggling with the Brethren’s suspicions, reconciling his forbidden friendship with Lee, and finding himself.
While Milner and Poulter’s performances are most excellent, and great for enthralling the audience, the occasional animation of Will’s imagination allows for a more in-depth character study that wouldn't otherwise be possible. Unfortunately, the same isn’t offered for Lee but his surprisingly neglectful home life (from an absentee mother to an uncaring older brother) speaks wonders for the boy’s sense of character.
But the growth between the boys, their understanding of the world, and their friendship is pushed and tested as Didier Revol (Jules Sitruk), French exchange student, joins the production. Obviously, in a well-learned lesson for the boys, growing up isn’t easy. It's even harder when boys are being boys and making everything more complicated by being from completely opposite backgrounds.
Yet, at some point in everyone’s life, they’ve dreamt of being an adventure hero—from John Wayne to Luke Skywalker to Indiana Jones to Harry Potter to Rambo’s son—and escaping the sedentary life of school and chores. And Son of Rambow is reminiscent of those times, and times of joy, being carefree, and that weird stage of growing up. Some things about childhood never really change.
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