Rated PG-13 for some violence and reckless behavior.
Recommended for ages 9 and up
Run Time: 114 minutes
Quick Take: A Goonies-esque romp that delights kids and adults in mischief-making leads while giving plenty to think about, too.
The Story: Will belongs to a strict religious sect, the Brethren -- no TV, no movies, and a standing appointment to protest films like Rambo outside the downtown movie theater. Lee Carter, an unsupervised, unfettered threat to teachers' sanity, bootlegs the very movies that Will can't see, and dreams of his eventual fame. When fatherless Will sees Rambo: First Blood by chance, his already-wild imagination goes wilder, and he and Lee concoct their own version of the story -- Son of Rambow, naturally.
Good If You Liked: The Goonies, Monster Squad, The Sandlot
Related Features:
Own It? Rent it first, but we'd bet kids will want to see it again.
DVD Special Features: Cast commentary, plus Aron, a short film director Garth Jennings made as a child that was the basis for this film.
Heads Up: These are rambunctious kids, and by rambunctious, we mean misbehaving. (The rating is for some violence and reckless behavior, which includes one of the leads being shot out from a catapult-like contraption.) The movie opens with Lee smoking a cigarette while pirating a movie. While making their version of the Rambo movie, the boys sustain plenty of minor injuries, and a scene near the end leaves the audience in suspense over one of the characters' well-being. Some kids will be anxious to copy the boys' antics, and the film might also spur discussion about rule breaking, religion, and loyalty to friends and family.
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Boys Gone (a Little) Wild -- And That's a Good Thing!
Blame it on the iPod and the hooded sweatshirt.
These days, when filmmakers want to create a rebellious kid, they simply outfit a child star in a baggy sweatshirt and ever-present iPod earbuds. Sullen. Moody. Bored. Said kid always stumbles upon adventure casually: Poking around in a secret room that happens to lead to a fantasy world; finding a book that's wanted by monsters; losing track of a kid sibling and being forced to explore the wider world to find them.
Where's the adventure and rebellion for adventure's and rebellion's sakes?
Not to get nostalgic ... oh, fine, to get nostalgic: In my day, kids in movies followed no dress code and got up to mischief of their own accord. I'm thinking of The Goonies, in particular: Those kids didn't accidentally wind up underground on the hunt for One-Eyed Willie's treasure -- they found an old treasure map in the attic and figured, let's go! (Granted, saving their homes was a motivating factor but I bet they would have gone on the hunt for treasure anyway.)
Thank the Goonies gods for Son of Rambow, a film that shows today's kids how adventure and mischief-making are done.
Set in the early '80s in an English town, the film follows rambunctious Lee Carter and dreamy Will Proudfoot -- both outcasts at their private school. Lee lives by his wild streak, getting tossed out of class on a daily basis for tormenting his teachers. A bit of a bully -- not to mention a pickpocket -- he's got no friends or entourage to speak of. Dreamy Will regularly gets sent to sit in the hallway, too: In his case, his religion forbids him from consuming anything worldly -- TV, pop music, and movies are off-limits -- and his teachers have to put him outside every time they show an educational film.
Lee lives the life of a modern Peter Pan Lost Boy -- his parents travel, and his older brother isn't much of a caretaker. Instead, he uses Lee to make pirated copies of movies, like Rambo: First Blood, which Will sees during a trip to Lee's house. Fatherless Will is beyond captivated by the violent film, dreaming himself the son of, yes, Rambow (the phonetic spelling). And, since Lee dreams of making a film that will win him accolades in a television contest, he finds in Will his perfect actor -- not to mention visionary -- as artistic Will develops a bizarre plotline for the film.
Parents should know that this film is not politically correct: the kids curse (though in English slang), fight, and steal -- and that's not even getting to the questions the film raises about religion. But that's what gives the tale that feel of the real -- part of being a kid is getting in trouble, having your feelings hurt, getting angry, and wondering about how your family got the way it is. Whitewash a story too much and every kid in it looks like a blank slate.
Just as intriguing as all the misbehavior and movie-making storyline are the hilarious scenes at Lee and Will's school: A trip past the velvet ropes of the senior students' lounge revels in '80s fads from PopRocks to scented erasers. A giggle-worthy yet bittersweet subplot focuses on Didier, a French exchange student who Will recruits as one of his stars.
Wrapped within all the comedic deliquency is a story about friendship, about finding your passion, and about the kind of family values that matter most -- basic love and understanding. But rather than forcefeed us such messages, director Garth Jennings weaves these ideas in a whimsical, nostalgia-inducing story about the pure joys and utter sorrows of being a kid.
No iPods or hooded sweatshirts required.
Kids Will Like:
The novelty of watching two high-spirited kids get up to mischief and adventure. From the opening scenes' rollicking, romping montage of Lee running home (set to a tune that Dennis the Menace would appreciate) to the final curtain, Son of Rambow is packed with the kind of Goonies-esque moments parents might remember from their preteen days. During my showing, a half-dozen baseball teammates arrived with a few of their fathers and were awed for the whole running time -- one even saying on the way out: "I need to see more movies like that." Do they ever.
Parents Will Like:
Once you give kids a taste of this film, they'll be asking for more movies like it. It's a perfect opportunity to break out The Goonies, The Explorers, Monster Squad, The Sandlot, and Stand By Me (which has an R-rating, mostly for language, but is a classic coming-of-age movie for teens.) Parents will also like the well-weighted balance of laugh-out-loud moments and much sweeter scenes.
