Son of Rambow film review

certificate_12A

SON OF RAMBOW

Free from the studio pressures that made their big screen version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy a controversial affair (I liked it but there were plenty of dissenting voices on what was probably an impossible task), the British producer/director team of Hammer and Tongs (aka Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith) have followed it up with a sweet and personal second film. It's not the funniest or most meaningful film of the year, but it's certainly an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours in the cinema.

Written by Jennings, it's a coming of age story set in England in the early 1980s (cue a soundtrack of the times) about two distinctly different kids. One is Will (Bill Milner), who is brought up in strict religious surroundings by his mother (Jessica Hynes) and prevented from having any of the trappings of modern life (even at school he has to leave the class when they watch a documentary, as tv is considered the devil's work). The other is Lee (Will Poulter), the school tearaway, who spends more time being hauled up in front of the headmaster than he does in lessons.

The two become unlikely allies when they bond over Lee's project for the television film show Screen Test. He intends to make a sequel to the first two Rambo films in deepest Essex. Will sneaks away from his house at all hours to star in the amateur epic, which Lee assures him will be 'skill', and they enlist a supercool French foreign exchange student (Jules Sitruk, the films's comic highlight) to complete their casting.

There are plenty of iconic Stallone references for Rambo fans to enjoy, and the gradual bond that develops between the two boys is well handled. It's also a pitch perfect nod to the early - and at the time almost lifechanging - days of home video.

Jennings may well have unearthed two new stars of the future in his young leads, who handle their roles with aplomb opposite an established adult cast. This is original and bright stuff.

Paul Hurley