"Son of Rambow" (2008) / review and/or viewer comments

Son of Rambow

MPAA Rating: PG-13

for violence and reckless behavior

Review coming from Contributor: Spencer Schumacher

Moral Rating:

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Moviemaking Quality:

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Primary Audience:

Family

Genre:

Comedy, Drama

Length:

1 hr. 36 min.

Year of Release:

2008

USA Release:

May 2, 2008 (limited)

Relevant Issues

Adventures in the rainforest! Learn about the Creator of the universe by exploring His marvelous creation. Fun for the whole family with games, activities, stories, answers to children’s questions, color pages, and more! One of the Web’s first and most popular Christian Web sites for children. Nonprofit, evangelical, nondenominational.

Featuring:	Neil Dudgeon, Bill Milner, Jessica Stevenson, Anna Wing, Will Poulter, Tallulah Evans, Emilie Chesnais, Paul Ritter, Finola McMahon, Rachel Mureatroyd, Taylor Richardson, Peter Robinson, Charlie Thrift, Jules Sitruk, Sam Kubrick-Finney, James Clarke, Zofia Brooks, Denise Orita, Eric Sykes, Ed Westwick, Lee Long, Adam Paul Harvey, Atila Emirali, Dave Shaw, Adam Godley, Asa Butterfield, Adam Buxton, Edgar Wright, Imogen Aboud, Louise Jennings, Sam Spivack, Robert Styles
Director:	Garth Jennings
Producer:	Bristol Baughan, Christian Baute, Benjamin Goldhirsh, Nick Goldsmith, Hengameh Panahi, Jane Robertson
Distributor:	Paramount Vantage

“Make Believe. Not War.”

Copyrighted, Paramount Vantage
Producer’s Synopsis: “A nostalgic trip back to the 1980s, ‘Son of Rambow’ is an inventive valentine to an era where, for the first time in history, young minds had access to technology that allowed them to create their own stories while paying homage to their larger-than-life heroes from the movies that inspired them.

Will, who isn't allowed to watch TV or go to the movies, expresses himself through his drawings and illustrations until he finds himself caught up in the extraordinary world of Lee Carter, the school terror and crafter of bizarre home movies. Carter exposes Will to a pirated copy of the first Rambo film, ‘First Blood,’ which blows his mind wide open. Against his family's orders, his imaginative little brain begins to flower in the world of filmmaking. Will and Lee become popular at school through their films, but when a French exchange student, Didier Revol, arrives on the scene, their unique friendship and precious film are pushed to the breaking point.

Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith, aka Hammer & Tongs, the creative visionaries behind ‘The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,’ utilize a vast array of visual techniques to perfectly capture the moment in time when anything was possible and dreams could be recreated with a home video camera, a few props, and a ton of imagination.”

Movie Critics

“…wildly funny and unexpectedly moving coming-of-age story is an unabashed celebration of childhood and moviemaking…”
—Ethan Alter, Film Journal International

“…funny, eccentric kids' film…”
—Newsday

“…A hodgepodge of popular kids' elements crammed into a mishmash of a movie.…”
—Duane Byrge, The Hollywood Reporter

“…I really wanted to like it, and there are some laughs, but the film doesn't fully earn our sentimental indulgence, and there is a persistent sort of Britfilm lameness, 2-D characterisation and soft-focus comedy.”
—Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

“…Innocuous childish violence.… A likable, lightly sticky valentine to childhood… uninflected, touching performances of the two young leads…”
—Manohla DArgis, The New York Times