Jason KingSon of Rambow ($15-)
October 10th 2008 21:28
Son of Rambow ($15-)
Set in "a long, hot summer in the early '80s", the film is a coming-of-age comedy. It tells the story of two schoolboys who are inspired by the film Rambo: First Blood to make their own action-adventure film, which they hope will win them a young filmmaker competition. Neglected youngster Lee Carter (Will Poulter) - the worst-behaved boy in school - has access to the home video equipment used by his bullying older brother's (Ed Westwick) video pirating enterprise.
Will (Bill Milner) could not be more different; quiet and shy he comes from a family that belongs to the strict Plymouth Brethren religious sect. Will is forbidden to watch films or television and is made to leave his classroom when the teacher puts on a documentary. In the corridor he meets Lee, thrown out of another class for bad behaviour. At first, Lee sees Will as an easily manipulated lackey but after Will sees a pirated copy of First Blood and throws himself into the filmmaking experience, the two realise how much they each need a best friend.
Their movie takes on a chaotic life of its own, as they fight to keep control of it, and also to keep it secret from Will's family. Ultimately it changes the lives of both boys, and their relationships with their friends and families.
I cannot rave about this film enough - do not look at images of it and say "but it looks like a kid's film" - my mum (yes you!) does it all the time. This is a film for absolutely everyone. It has strong themes about the importance of friendship holding no barriers, the imagination of youth and the strong visual impact the film makers poured into the film to achieve this. Written and directed by Garth Jennings, his first feature was the screen version of Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (2005) but even before that, he and his producer and childhood friend, Nick Goldsmith, "were nurturing this tribute to their days as neophyte Stallones. Their role model, by the way, has seen the film and given it his blessing. But they've still played safe and called the film Son Of Rambow, using that tacked-on "w" to signal the fact that they didn't want to be accused of false pretences. A hint of the film's flavour can be divined from its tagline: "Make Believe. Not War." "
The acting of these completely undiscovered and untrained actors is phenomenal, seriously they are much better than most actors out there earning 20 MIL a film. If you do watch this on DVD make sure you watch the special features containing interviews with the director, producer and the two leads, also the interview with just the two kids, the maturity levels and intelligence of these 12yr old kids will blow your mind. That and you get to see how this wasn't a Hollywood production, it was made like a great cheese or wine, with patience and a family feeling. The 2 kids are now pretty much best friends in real life and the kindness and love the director has for them is unheard of. I LOVE ENGLISH productions.
Also, the visuals and art direction of the film are brilliant - the imagination of the youths spurts forth onto screen with imaginary scarecrows and childhood doodles coming to life and filling the screen with added color and life.
This film is pure cinematic gold. I had heard nothing but the best things about this from friends who had seen it however my local cinema did not get it and I was either too busy or more likely too lazy to travel to see it. So I waited until it came out on DVD in the UK and bought it just before our Australian dollar decided to gain the worth slightly below toilet paper on the world market. After my first purchase of it on Ebay and paying for it Paypal came back to me and said that due to a "dodgy operator" they were canceling and reversing the transaction - so I bought another copy when the $$ went to bum wipe prices and low and behold two copies arrived and some seller out there that I cannot get in touch with sent me a copy and had his money taken back from him by Paypal - so this post is dedicated to him and for my free DVD. Anyways, enough babbling but due to me having two copies I am willing to use the second as a loaner and will send to anyone that wants to watch but promises to return it. PM me!
This film has something for everyone - laughter, emotion and enough nostalgic material from the 80's to keep any generation from that decade and previous ones happy. Rosie - who watched this with me decided to dance to The Cure over the closing credits and I was shocked because I was so into the 80's wearing white pants, pink shirts, thin white leather ties and my oh so modern Dunlop Volleys spray painted pink. LOL. Viva La 80's!! Out now at cinemas on limited release or available for loan from me or out on DVD in Oz in the near future. Do yourself a favor and watch this, you won't be disappointed. Worth $15-
Set in "a long, hot summer in the early '80s", the film is a coming-of-age comedy. It tells the story of two schoolboys who are inspired by the film Rambo: First Blood to make their own action-adventure film, which they hope will win them a young filmmaker competition. Neglected youngster Lee Carter (Will Poulter) - the worst-behaved boy in school - has access to the home video equipment used by his bullying older brother's (Ed Westwick) video pirating enterprise.
Will (Bill Milner) could not be more different; quiet and shy he comes from a family that belongs to the strict Plymouth Brethren religious sect. Will is forbidden to watch films or television and is made to leave his classroom when the teacher puts on a documentary. In the corridor he meets Lee, thrown out of another class for bad behaviour. At first, Lee sees Will as an easily manipulated lackey but after Will sees a pirated copy of First Blood and throws himself into the filmmaking experience, the two realise how much they each need a best friend.
Their movie takes on a chaotic life of its own, as they fight to keep control of it, and also to keep it secret from Will's family. Ultimately it changes the lives of both boys, and their relationships with their friends and families.
I cannot rave about this film enough - do not look at images of it and say "but it looks like a kid's film" - my mum (yes you!) does it all the time. This is a film for absolutely everyone. It has strong themes about the importance of friendship holding no barriers, the imagination of youth and the strong visual impact the film makers poured into the film to achieve this. Written and directed by Garth Jennings, his first feature was the screen version of Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (2005) but even before that, he and his producer and childhood friend, Nick Goldsmith, "were nurturing this tribute to their days as neophyte Stallones. Their role model, by the way, has seen the film and given it his blessing. But they've still played safe and called the film Son Of Rambow, using that tacked-on "w" to signal the fact that they didn't want to be accused of false pretences. A hint of the film's flavour can be divined from its tagline: "Make Believe. Not War." "
The acting of these completely undiscovered and untrained actors is phenomenal, seriously they are much better than most actors out there earning 20 MIL a film. If you do watch this on DVD make sure you watch the special features containing interviews with the director, producer and the two leads, also the interview with just the two kids, the maturity levels and intelligence of these 12yr old kids will blow your mind. That and you get to see how this wasn't a Hollywood production, it was made like a great cheese or wine, with patience and a family feeling. The 2 kids are now pretty much best friends in real life and the kindness and love the director has for them is unheard of. I LOVE ENGLISH productions.
Also, the visuals and art direction of the film are brilliant - the imagination of the youths spurts forth onto screen with imaginary scarecrows and childhood doodles coming to life and filling the screen with added color and life.
This film is pure cinematic gold. I had heard nothing but the best things about this from friends who had seen it however my local cinema did not get it and I was either too busy or more likely too lazy to travel to see it. So I waited until it came out on DVD in the UK and bought it just before our Australian dollar decided to gain the worth slightly below toilet paper on the world market. After my first purchase of it on Ebay and paying for it Paypal came back to me and said that due to a "dodgy operator" they were canceling and reversing the transaction - so I bought another copy when the $$ went to bum wipe prices and low and behold two copies arrived and some seller out there that I cannot get in touch with sent me a copy and had his money taken back from him by Paypal - so this post is dedicated to him and for my free DVD. Anyways, enough babbling but due to me having two copies I am willing to use the second as a loaner and will send to anyone that wants to watch but promises to return it. PM me!
This film has something for everyone - laughter, emotion and enough nostalgic material from the 80's to keep any generation from that decade and previous ones happy. Rosie - who watched this with me decided to dance to The Cure over the closing credits and I was shocked because I was so into the 80's wearing white pants, pink shirts, thin white leather ties and my oh so modern Dunlop Volleys spray painted pink. LOL. Viva La 80's!! Out now at cinemas on limited release or available for loan from me or out on DVD in Oz in the near future. Do yourself a favor and watch this, you won't be disappointed. Worth $15-
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Looks like you are the only one that read the review Morgan LOL - so enjoy the trailer!!