Son of Rambow (2007)

Written and Directed by Garth Jennings

Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner) and his super religious mother Mary (Spaced's Jessica Stevenson) are good church going folk who spend most of their time either studying the Bible, or learning its lessons from Brother Joshua (Neil Dudgeon). So when Will stumbles into a friendship with Lee Carter (Will Poulter), the school screw up who has absolutely no parental influence, he accidentally discovers First Blood and a love of action movies, and inspiration to make a movie of his own. So Will and Lee set about to do just that, and Will's idea for character and the story is to tell the adventures of the Son of Rambow.

With that, the film unfolds in a simple narrative that expands the friendship of the two unlikely friends, and the things they grow to like about each other, and the lessons they learn from each other. Lee brings Will out of his shell, and Will in turn teaches Lee about creativity and being a considerate person. Together, the two escape from the harsh realities of their respective lives, which neither is a big fan of, by going off on their own and making their film with Lee's video camera. Will becomes the star of the film, and Lee enjoys directing him, and even when they aren't making the film, Will leads creatively, while Lee enjoys having someone to boss around, since his brother Lawrence (Ed Westwick) runs Lee like a slave at home.

That is no problem for Lee though, he is so desperate for someone to pay attention to anything he does that he enjoys even his brother's totalitarian slave master attitude towards him, because it's some attention at all. Will is the opposite, constantly watched and smothered with unwanted attention by his over-protective mother, the two realize they are kindred spirits, even if they aren't self actualized enough to admit it.

This is the definition of a sweet, innocent movie. Most of the fun and laughs come from the scenes where they are shooting their movie in anticipation for the "Screen Test" competition run by the local television station. The narrative takes a few turns when Will involves the French exchange student Didier (Jules Sitruk) in the film without Lee's full approval, which he could never get because for Lee, the movie is all about the attention that gets paid to him.

The film has a style all it's own visually, some of the fantasy scenes have interesting effects in them, and the cinematography has a certain nostalgic air about it that supports the period setting. The child actors perform well, they have a certain maturity well beyond their actual years. Still, the film is lacking in a lot of areas, but that's the style of film it is. A simple narrative that explores the friendship of these two young alienated men. If this is what you are looking for, you should come away wholly satisfied, but if you're looking for a laugh riot comedy, you might walk away disappointed. A well made film, if a little too over-sweet for my taste.

7.6/10