X
- 2008
- PG-13
- Paramount Vantage
- 1 h 36 m
- 2008
- PG-13
- Paramount Vantage
- 1 h 36 m
Summary Son of Rambow is a hilariously fresh and visually inventive take on friendship, family, film heroes, and the death-defying adventures of growing up in the video age. The story takes place in 1980s Britain, where young Will Proudfoot is raised in isolation among The Brethren, a puritanical religious sect in which music and TV are strictly...
Directed By: Garth Jennings
Written By: Garth Jennings
- 2008
- PG-13
- Paramount Vantage
- 1 h 36 m
- 2008
- PG-13
- Paramount Vantage
- 1 h 36 m
Son of Rambow
66
6.4
Where to Watch
Summary Son of Rambow is a hilariously fresh and visually inventive take on friendship, family, film heroes, and the death-defying adventures of growing up in the video age. The story takes place in 1980s Britain, where young Will Proudfoot is raised in isolation among The Brethren, a puritanical religious sect in which music and TV are strictly...
Directed By: Garth Jennings
Written By: Garth Jennings
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 29 Critic Reviews
66
72% Positive
21 Reviews
21 Reviews
24% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
3% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 29 Critic Reviews
66
72% Positive
21 Reviews
21 Reviews
24% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
3% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Perhaps the most ingeniously imaginative element in Son of Rambow, a film exploding with imagination (some of it scrawled directly over the film in animated expressions of Will's private world), is its very conceit.
This year’s diamond in the rough, a small movie that is big in heart and promises to be big at the box office.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 22 User Ratings
6.4
64% Positive
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
27% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
9% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 22 User Ratings
6.4
64% Positive
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
27% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
9% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
I thought the movie showed the imagination of young children well. You could tell that the two boys were bored with their pretty strict (family and school wise) surroundings.
Family life is pretty rotten for them and I think they are really quite lonely, though they don't admit it.
It is quite a funny movie in parts, some of the stuff the boys do while filming the video, lets just say they do get carried away with one particular scene involving a a teacher getting rudely interupted that sticks in mind. There's a fair amount of 80s nostalgia present in the movie too, with a disco taking place at one stage in the movie.
I thought the boys gave great performances as William and Lee, I certainly felt sorry for William and I laughed alongside them too. In the end though, the movie becomes quite moving and you really feel for the characters.
I think there is an underlying message about rising above bullies and such things not being as they first seem or that people would like them to be, which I guess is a good message or a realistic message to give out to teenagers who see the movie but most of all I think its probably a movie that most people can relate to in one way or another, it might lead you to reminiscing about your childhood, the school friends you had and the ideas you had and what you got up to etc.
On the negative side, some may feel that the ending is perhaps a bit unlikely but really otherwise, I thought that it seemed quite believable and that its a good quality British cult movie.
Yes, I'd recommend this movie as I thought it was a good sentimental movie with both funny and touching moments. As I've already said, this is a movie that most people should be able to relate to and if your looking for some nostalgia from the early 1980s, you get a bit of that too. Its not majorly laugh out loud material but its worth seeing all the same, as a movie that may make you think back to your own past childhood friendships and the happy times you may well have had when your imagination knew no bounds. The acting is good and the story is interesting, this is a good movie worth seeing.
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Son of Ranbow, the movie's got a great plot. It's pretty much about these two lads from the same school, one of them being a Christian who's quite shy and the other being a school bully. These two come together and make a homemade Rambo movie with inspiration from Rambo: First Blood.
It's actually pretty good and the emotions which this movie's got work very well and they're built up quite well when they happen throughout this movie.
Overall, Son Of Ranbow is a really good movie. The movie's got a great plot, very good acting, brilliant dialogue and there's a lot of heart throughout this movie which is honestly built up very well.
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Few movies have captured the intoxicating effect of pop culture on kids better than Son of Rambow.
A crowd-pleasing combination of buoyant spirit and occasionally dark humor.
An endearing, well-acted trifle with lovely intentions.
The shooting of the movie-within-a-movie offers the brightest moments in Son Of Rambow, a testament to the innocence of the boys' creative impulse and the sheer unlikely pleasure of their friendship.
If it happens to hit you right - that is, if you happen to catch its wavelength of tear-and-a-smile whimsicality - the movie will speak to you.
Why did you watch it?
I saw a few scenes from this film a while back on TV and found them light hearted and amusing so asked to borrow it on DVD from a friend.
Tell me about it.
Son of Rambow tells the story of two young boys growing up in the 80's, William and Lee, who become firm friends while making a Rambo-inspired home movie full of self-performed stunts and childish violence. The boys are polar opposites at first, William's family belong to a strict and traditional religious brethren, so strict that William is not even allowed to watch TV for documentaries at school, while Lee is the school's worst behaved child. Despite their differences, the pair become friends by chance and both appreciate each others company, Lee's renegade behaviour gives William experiences outside of the brethren (perhaps none more so than watching Rambo: First Blood) while Lee finds a kindred spirit to overcome his loneliness at home.
Should I watch it?
Creating a film about a pair of schoolchildren's recreation of Rambo certainly scores points for originality. As I mentioned before, the light hearted and amusing in places and would be suitable for adults and children alike. The young actors Bill Milner and Will Poulter are excellent and are supported well by a small cast.
The writers take inspiration from a range of films, not just Rambo, with the scarecrow in the field and French exchange student Didier coolly lighting his cigarette in church coming to mind. As a throwback to the 80's the film is excellent, catchphrases, clothes and music are all spot on. Just like J.J Abrams recent Super 8, hopefully Rambow will inspire a generation of young filmmakers.
Son of Rambow is a quirky and original British comedy-drama, which suffers from being a little too sweet in places towards the end but more than makes up for it with great acting and humorous moments.
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Eleven year old Will, sheltered from the outside world as part of a religious group known as the Plymouth Brethren has never seen a movie before. When his new found friend, school trouble-maker Lee Carter, shows him Rambo: First Blood the two set out to make their own movie, inspired by the Stallone classic.
The pairs attempt to create their own stunts are certainly humorous, if not exactly laugh out loud funny, but it is the pairs friendship that is really at the heart of the movie. Bill Milner and Will Poulter are excellent throughout ensuring it never becomes overly melodramatic and Jules Sitruk brings extra doses of comedy as the leather clad foreign exchange student.
Son of Rambow is certainly not a film that will have you creasing up with laughter but as the end credits role it is difficult not to feel good.
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Production Company
Hammer & Tongs,
Celluloid Dreams,
Good Film Productions,
Arte France Cinéma,
Network Movie Film-und Fernsehproduktion,
Reason Pictures,
Soficinéma 2,
Soficinéma 3,
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF)
Release Date May 2, 2008
Duration 1 h 36 m
Rating PG-13
Tagline Make Believe. Not War.
Website
http://www.sonoframbow.com/
Awards
British Independent Film Awards
• 4 Nominations
Locarno International Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Empire Awards, UK
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
