Son of Rambow

Plot synopsis:
Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner) is a quiet and shy 11-year-old boy, and comes from a family that belongs to the strict Plymouth Brethren church. Will is forbidden from watching films or television and is made to leave his classroom when the teacher puts on a documentary. In the corridor, he meets Lee Carter (Will Poulter), the 13-year old worst-behaved boy in school, thrown out of another class for bad behaviour. They accidentally break a fish bowl in the corridor; Lee volunteers to take the blame, pretending that the punishment is torture, in exchange for Will's watch, which belonged to his dead father. Moreover, Lee demands that Will performs the stunts in a film Lee is making with home video equipment owned by his bullying older brother, Lawrence, which Lawrence uses in his video bootlegging enterprise. He intends to enter the Screen Test Young Film-Makers' Competition.
Will accepts, after accidentally seeing the film First Blood at Lee's house while hiding from Lawrence. He becomes very enthusiastic, and plays several dangerous action scenes, culminating in the two boys becoming 'blood brothers' after Lee saves Will from drowning. Lee finds Will's sketch book, full of colourful and glorious ideas, and starts to incorporate some of them into his film script. The two become best friends, but Will has to keep it secret from his family and the increasingly interfering Brother Joshua of the Brethren, who clearly has designs on his mother.
French exchange students arrive, of whom the suave Didier Revol becomes very popular. After finding Will's sketch book, he asks Will if he and his acolytes can play in the film, and Will agrees. Didier reveals that he has always wanted to be an actor. This mushrooms into the whole school being part of the production, and Will being included with the cool sixth-formers. Lee does not like this, as he is no longer in control, and finally quits after a fight with Will during filming of the last sequence, which takes place at a disused power station. After Will becomes trapped when part of the unstable structure collapses due to Didier's carelessness, and the entire school/crew run away, Lee returns to rescue his friend, but uses the excuse that he has come to collect his brother's camera. He too gets hurt, and has to go to hospital. Lawrence visits him, but is angry about the fact that the camera is broken.
Will's mother, from whom he has struggled to hide his activities, finally realises that her son must be allowed to be himself and her family leaves the Brethren. The film is never submitted to the competition as they miss the deadline. The French students leave, and while Didier was popular and worshiped in Britain, his own school-mates mock him, and he is actually lonely and isolated. When Lawrence looks at Lee's footage he is impressed, and he sees Lee's rant at Will defending Lawrence's neglect and bullying, which was accidentally filmed. With Will's help, he adds a part in which he acts himself — including a reply message for his brother. When Lee leaves the hospital, he is brought to a cinema by surprise. His film is shown before the main feature (much to the enjoyment of the audience) and the two boys reunite.

Tags: psychedelic, prank, violence, flashback

Review:
It follows similar themes to 'Stand by Me' (the classic starring River Phoenix), such as childhood loyalty and comradeship, but in a typically British fashion with understated humour, quirky comedy, and some nice references to 80s Britain.Genuine laugh out loud moments, poignant and uplifting, and it can also just be appreciated as a well made film, with good acting, dialogue and direction..
This promising theme gives rise to one of the most hilarious comedies in recent cinema, memorable not only for countless laugh-out-loud moments but also for its engaging and unexpectedly moving story.Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner) and Lee Carter (Will Poulter) are a chalk and cheese pairing, thrown together by chance after being summoned to detention at school.
The shooting of the film provides some hysterical contrasts between grown-up pretensions and childlike absurdity, with gun-battle sequences ripped straight from 'Rambo: First Blood' interspersed with footage of a flying dog attack.The overlapping secondary story, portraying the school-playground infatuation with the New Wave style of French exchange student Didier, is also a rich seam of humour; the stinging parody of teenage culture culminates in Will and Carter's visit to the school common room, populated by posing, pogoing teens.
Both of the young boys in the leading roles are notable talents and the brother and exchange student both made for entertaining supporting characters.The payoff of the film is the movie being made within the movie and getting to watch it in its entirety is special and moving.
Son of Rambow (2007) Comedy/ Drama/ Family (PG-13) *Some Violence * Reckless Behavior Country: UK Director: Garth Jennings Bill Milner/ Will Poulter/ Jules SitrukThis movie makes me laugh all the way down to my soul.
Garth Jennings' hilarious "Son of Rambow" is a nearly perfect Generation-Y update of one of my favorite films from childhood, John Boorman's vastly underrated masterpiece "Hope and Glory." Whereas Boorman's "Hope and Glory" was tinted with melancholic Graham Greene era nostalgia and told the story of a young boy coping with Germany's blitzkrieg over England during WWII through the power of make-belief, Jenning's laugh-out-loud "Son of Rambow" takes a post-modern 1980's pop-culture inspired look at a young boy's escape from a harsh religious upbringing through an obsession with the movie "Rambo: First Blood." When a religiously oppressed Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner, with the perfect comic timing only an untrained child actor could provide) forms an unlikely friendship with a criminally neglected and movie-obsessed Lee Carter (Will Poulter, first seen on screen smoking a cigarette while making a bootleg video in a packed theater showing the original "Rambo"), the two decide to make their own Rambo-inspired film to enter in a local contest.
Luckily, like Boorman's clearly influential classic, this film is also wonderfully photographed and chock-full of naturalistic acting from the young cast.Sure, "Son of Rambow" lacks the gravitas and realism of Boorman's semi-autobiographical "Hope and Glory" but it packs a similar emotional wallop for those in my age group who grew up pretending to make movies in their backyards with neighborhood kids after the latest "GI Joe" or "Transformers" episode aired and were inspired by the latest "Star Wars" or "Indiana Jones" film before those franchises were raped for opportunistic profit during our disenfranchised adult years.
For a generation of late 20's and early 30-somethings who spent their childhoods disengaged watching endless marathons of "The Little Rascals" and "The Three Stooges" on TV while action stars like Sylvester Stallone pounded movie theater audiences into a bloody pulp, "Son of Rambow" is pure imagination-inspired movie magic that will tickle the funny bone while successfully playing for our sympathies.
Seeing the film fires Lee's imagination and he takes no convincing to become Lee's stuntman and lead actor, with the two continuing their strange relationship during the making of it.Although I understand why, I would almost prefer if I hadn't seen Son of Rambow on every bus that I drove past for the last few weeks and had come to it as a small British film that is "quite good" rather than having a lot of hype and praise lavished onto it.
It is hard to fault its creativity and the way it brings out the good feeling of children, in a simpler time, letting their imagination run while also trying to deal with the world that is bigger than them and in this regard Son of Rambow does really well.
Fortunately it ends on a good note and left me with a warm feeling  but it was still a rocky road to get there.You will hear it praised to the rafters of course, mainly by viewers who are overjoyed that a British film is made that people want to see and isn't rubbish but, for all its weaknesses the one area the praise is very deserved is in the two main actors.
as one would expect in the world of Hollywood 'Son of ram bow' is not a follow up to Sylvester Stallone's ailing 'rambo franchise but about two boys from very different social backgrounds who together decide to mount their own 'rambo' production which is chock full of comedic moments, the film is superb as it truly represents childhood awe and wonder, the film is authentic in it's setting of 1983 england the costumes and production design are accurately true to the age it's wonderful to see all of those hideous 80's outfits.
It wasn't bad film but it wasn't good either.Synopsis: A story about two school boys with two different backgrounds joint together to make the home movie (where they were inspired from the movie First Blood) for the competition, along the way they met many obstacles that challenge their friendship.It took quite a long while before you will understand where the film is heading to, there are quite a few good moment in the film but the lack of substance in the story making this movie so empty and thus not really hold the interest well.
It wasn't like it was predictable story but the flow of the film was pretty uneven and the character wasn't really standout (this might actually clash with other people idea, I believe).I believe the best of the film was the casting of the two main characters Will and Carter, and the kid did a good job portraying their character.
Not much has been emphasize that the film took place in the '80 but just the few accessories, few words and wardrobe of the French kid that dress like Boy George and Cyndi Lauper combine and that seem like the trendiest thing then.All in all, I can't really fully recommend this movie to anyone – first if you're not into this type of movie you will surely bored and - second if you do actually like to watch independence film this still is not really that good, cause this isn't much of story driven.All I can recommend was if you still want to watch it catch it on free cable or rent it from DVD store.Reason to Watch: Will and Carter are lovable character.Reason to Watch: Not really hold interest.Rating: 5/10 (Grade: D+) PS: They do explain why the film spell Rambow with "W" inside the film at the end of the credit..
Despite the brief images of violence, a couple of children smoking, and some children using profanity, "Son of Rambow", written and directed by music-video-director-turned-movie- director Garth Jennings, of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" is a funny, sweet and rather peculiar family fantasy for the filmmaker in you.
Set in 1980's England when the first Rambo flick, "First Blood" became big in theaters, the movie follows bully Lee Carter (Will Poulter) and artistic Plymouth Brethren Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner).
And the whole plot is about a kid with big dreams who escapes a life of religious oppression and rules to discover the 'real world.' And he makes a damn hilarious movie in the process.Viewers will no doubt identify with one of the two main characters: either the shy, intrigued intelligent boy or the boisterous, rough-housing, but loyal and equally intelligent boy.
This film is the first that I have ever felt like commenting outside of facebook apps, and it is a truly awesome childhood flashback for a lot of 30 odd year olds who grew up in the Southern Counties, to the point I spotted that the lake scene was filmed at Hawley Woods where I used to play around the same age and time as the pair in this film.It some how manages to really capture the atmosphere of being a kid again with all that happens to you as a child and the music shows the era in a believable way, it intelligently portrays the world back then for someone that age, when Rambo was the coolest thing and the sixth formers where getting off on spacedust and coke!
'Son Of Rambow' is about two middle school boys, one slightly middle class raised in a strict religious upbringing,where music & television is forbidden (okay, so no television is a plus there...still the ways & means they do it is still bulls**t), and the other, a lower middle class school bully, with a penchant for bootlegging video copies of current movies, are brought together to collaborate on a do it yourself version of Rambo:First Blood.
Sure all this bad behavior could ruin their minds but, as is this case for the young and unlikely friends, Will Proudfoot and Lee Carter (first timers, Milner and Poulter), it also sets their imaginations free.Son of Rambow is not quite as charming but just as mischievous as the boys on the screen.
Director and writer, Garth Jennings, previously handling the same roles in "Hitch Hikers Guide To the Galaxy" has made a wonderful, warm, quirky teenage picture which challenges yet soothes at the same time.It is a timeless tale of imagination, where as a child anything is possible and it is the adult world which is "unreal".Debut child actors Neil Dudgeon, as bold and brash Joshua, and Bill Milner as repressed Will Proudfoot play an "Artful Dodger/Oliver" style double hander with intelligence, wit and conviction.The central premise is simple, to enter a teenage film short continuing the "Rambo" series.Will is stultified in a widowed household where his mother has joined a religious cult which forbids access to televisions and watches.Joshua runs free without his parents, looked after by his elder brother, but finds an emotional bond with the quixotic Will.A sharp script, wittily observed is stronger on smiles than belly laughs but is none the weaker for it.Joshias declaration of love for his elder brother and his saving of Will from life threatening scrapes are genuinely poignant, whilst a sub plot involving a party of French exchange students provides a light counterpoint to the main story.A classically British offering, and a little gem at that..
Through Lee, Will watches a pirated copy of Rambo: First Blood, and is enticed by it, his imagination conjuring vivid stories where he is the son of Rambow {sic} and is on a mission to rescue his captured father.
From there stems the rest of the plot, following the two boys and their developing friendship and coming of age.Overall, I thought that Son Of Rambow was quite an enjoyable film.
I could be wrong, there may be thousands of people living like that in the UK, but it just comes across as an ill thought out plot device that distracts the audience.At the core of the story is the burgeoning friendship between two opposites  Will and the rebellious Lee Carter (Will Poulter)  which is adequately  if predictably handled  and the suppression of individuality and creativity by marginalised religions.
There are sub-plots running through the story, the major one being about the need to appreciate real friendship over the desire for popularity amongst one's peers  yeah, that's right: the evergreen 'be true to yourself message.' The two boys perform well - although not outstandingly - for beginners and, overall, Son of Rambow is painless, undemanding entertainment.
A touching little coming-of-age story about friendship and loyalty that makes you chuckle along the way and root for that awkward little kid in all of us.The Good: Adorable lead cast - particularly Will Poulter does a fantastically mature job creating a sympathetic character with true feelings and realism.
Grange Hill meets Lord of the Flies in an unlikely tale of two boys from contrasting backgrounds who decide to make a video as an entry into a kids' TV film-making competition.The bizarre plot has little (if anything) original to say about the story's main themes of tween friendship and dysfunctional parenting.
Bill Milner is from a very religious family, not even allowed to watch television at school and hooks up with Poulter who persuades him to act as a stuntman in his movie and becomes enchanted with the movie process that fires his imagination especially as he watches a pirate version of First Blood.There is a side plot of visiting students from France who hook up with the young movie moguls which in turn causes conflict between the two lads who have become blood brothers.The film is inspired by young kids making home movies in the 1980s and not all of them were for Screen Test.
This realism together with references to right values and the use of distinct (not doll-like) child actors results with nice coming-of-age stories where both good and bad, laugh and tears are in place in a meaningful manner.The triggering element in Son of Rambow - action film First Blood - is not a children fairy-tale either, but it allows to develop nicely odd events and characters, although "boys will still be boys".
When it comes to filming First Blood, and including with it a 'son' looking for Rambo along with a flying yellow dog (created by Will), it's hard not to get joyously silly.But what also makes the sap earned is that it's a serious dramatic movie at heart as well.
The result is the epic "Son of Rambow," featuring every cliché from every overblown Hollywood action movie of the '80s (and then some--none of the RAMBO films ever included a flying dog!) Their project gets more complicated when the boys' classmates decide to enlist the help of a flamboyant, charismatic French exchange student in the making of the film to add "star power." Things get even more out of hand when Will's religious community discover his activities and try to prevent him from continuing.This is a film for anyone who loves childhood reminiscence movies, and also for anyone who just loves movies.
Together they decide to make their own amateurish home movie titled "Son of Rambow", since they were amazed with the Sylvester Stallone character from "First Blood".Written and Directed by Garth Jennings (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) made an amusing, coming of age story about family and friendship.
Set in the U.K. but based on Sly Stallone's Rambo character of the U.S., SON OF RAMBOW (yes, that's with a "w") is a heartwarming tale of friendship surrounding two characters' love of film and film making.These two are Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner) and Lee Carter (Will Poulter), two preteens with significantly different backgrounds.
What is especially nice here is that a movie about childhood friends and adventures, ended up bringing these boys together and forming a lasting friendship of their own while having the "adventure" of making their first film together.
A warm and emotional story about friendship, family ties and growing up,"Son Of Rambow" turned out to be a really good movie.
Son of Rambow is a film about two boys who decide to do a fan made sequel Rambo: First Blood along the way they learn the meaning of friendship.
Garth Jennings' entertaining film, 'Son of Rambow', is a sprightly comedy that tells the story of two boys who set out to make their own sequel to Sylvester Stallone's bloodthirsty hit.
Son of Rambow is A Very Good Little Comedy about growing up and the friendships we make along the way.For a start it has a couple of scenes that rate as the best laugh out loud moments of the year so far.
Plus a great supporting cast from dour Plymouth Brethren to the coolest French pre-teen ever, this is great comedy and well worth the viewing.The plot of two boys; one, who doesn't have a clue, and the other, well on the way to the criminal life, is nicely done.Nice touches of nostalgia throughout, and even a cameo by the great Eric Sykes; I would have to say you'd have to be particularly and practically stone cold dead not to enjoy this.As boys finding friendship through making their own film, this film comes alive and moves along at a good pace, some terrific sight gags, and very nice camera work (We'll forgive the glamorization: no government comprehensive in history had the buildings and grounds of a major British private school, but hey, it's the movies)....Son of Rambow...
Introducing two new comers Bill Milner (Will) and Will Poulter (Lee Carter) as two young school kids who find that even in the unlikely of places there can be a common interest.It is in this movie of bonding, friendships and Sylvester Stallone that this English summer of 1982 has our heroes sweating their days film-making, fighting off religious beliefs', struggling against indifference and putting up with French patter and pose.
"Son Of Rambow" is a nice little film about a pair of lonely little boys who, one summer in the early 80's, decide to make their own sequel to "Rambo: First Blood" to enter into the "Screen Test" young filmmakers competition.
Along comes the local bad boy at school, Lee Carter (Will Poulter), who wants to make a movie and enlists Will's help.Will sees "First Blood" and falls in love with Rambo, and centers his story around being the son of Rambow and rescuing him from an evil scarecrow.