Starring: Neil Dudgeon, Bill Milner, Jessica Hynes, Anna Wing, Will Poulter, Tallulah Evans
Director: Garth Jennings
Writer: Garth Jennings
Executive Producers: Hengameh Panahi, Bristol Bauhan, Ben Goldhirsh, Jonathan Davies
Producers: Nick Goldsmith, Trevor Evans
Genre: Comedy
Rating: MPAA – PG-13 for some violence and reckless behaviour
Distributor: Paramount Vantage

When I first saw the poster for the movie, Son Of Rambow , for some reason, I felt as though the movie would not be so good. Maybe it had something to do with the “W” at the end of the word “Rambow”, but who can really be sure? However, even with my doubts, I went into the movie as open-minded as possible. The result? Mediocre at best. To put it simply, the movie is nothing special, it doesn’t discuss some kind of cool concept, and it doesn’t have any interesting plot twists.

The story is about two boys with different personalities and lifestyles who come together to make a movie based on the classic action film Rambo . The first, Will Proudfoot (Milner), is a child of a very religious family who hides himself in his drawings and ideas, he is not very sociable, and constantly longs for his father, who had passed away from an aneurysm. The other, Lee Carter (Poulter), is a troublemaker and a petty thief who gets bullied by his older brother and peers, his difficult personality is probably due to the lack of parental control in his life, his mother is rarely home, and his father is gone. These two unlikely friends meet in the school hallway while both are outside of their classes. Will, because his class is watching a video and he is not allowed to watch television, and Lee, because he got kicked out of class. They fight, they get in trouble, and soon become friends with the plan to make a “Son Of Rambow” movie. Along the way they run into the usual snags, getting into trouble, other kids wanting to take part in the film and bickering amongst themselves. This adventure becomes a bonding experience, turning opposites into friends.

Proudfoot works on his artistry skills.

The acting is below average, at times it is over the top and at times it is just ok. However, they are children, and maybe I should not judge them so harshly. The plot is mostly predictable, and it is very slow. It takes so long for them to get to the point where they start actually making the movie. As well, it is not so funny, at all. Sure, there were a few funny jokes, and there was a montage that was humorous, but there is not enough for a so-called “comedy”.

After watching the movie, I went and watched the theatrical trailer, and I noticed that it is extremely deceiving! The trailer is nothing like the movie itself, it makes it seem as though it is about these two boy who plan to make a movie, word spreads, and soon everyone wants to get involved and eventually they become the centre of attention at school. Sure this comes in at some point, but, as I have shown above, this is not at all what the movie is about.

Get back in frame!

Also, I could not help but notice that when Didier Revol (Sitruk) was around, there were subtle homoerotic undertones. I could be wrong, but a guy having guy groupies, and lacking interest in kissing girls, could be constituted as homoeroticism. It is not a bad thing in the slightest, it is just funny to note.

On the plus side, the art direction was very pretty. The concept of bringing his paintings to life was kind of neat. As well, the movie had the adorable factor. Although it was cheesy, there were still moments of cuteness that made the movie a little more bearable. However, these pros do not do much in salvaging a predictable, boring movie.