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Son of Rambow
Rating: 
Cast:
Adam Buxton; Jessica Stevenson; Adam Godley; Will Poulter; Bill Milner; Eric Sykes; Ed Westwick; Jules Sitruk; Neil Dudgeon; Anna Wing
Directed by:
Garth Jennings
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‘Son of Rambow’ a sly satire of moviemaking
In "Son of Rambow," a schoolyard goon appears headed for reform school until he finds an occupation that suits his bullying nature perfectly - film director.
The movie is distant cousin to "Shadow of the Vampire," the amusing horror-comedy built on the premise that the classic "Nosferatu" starred an actual vampire, and that on-set there's essentially no difference between a monster and a method actor.
Both movies profile filmmakers with a near-destructive commitment to cinema - they function as comic profiles of "artists" who sacrifice nearly anything to get their movie made.
In "Son of Ranbow," the filmmakers are still in grammar school. Will (Bill Milner) is a wimpy kid who's excused from class because his Christian sect forbids him from being exposed to certain aspects of the curriculum.
He spends a lot of time in the hallway, where he runs afoul of another kid who spends a lot of time in the hallway - Carter (Will Poulter), the school roughneck.
Carter torments the younger, smaller boy, but the antagonism ends (sort of) when they discover their mutual love of "First Blood" and all things Rambo.
They bond over their shared desire to make their own amateur version of "First Blood" - Carter directs like Otto Preminger, and impressionable little Will follows every instruction, no matter how brutal or dangerous.
"Son Of Rambow" is good at showing the way collaboration bleeds into exploitation. Carter isn't merely a physical bully - he knows that Will is the creative force, the dreamer, willing to take extreme risks for any shot that might help the film. Will can't swim, for instance, but he doesn't mind drowning if it helps the film. And Carter doesn't mind watching him drown, at least until he gets the shot.
Writer/director Garth Jennings adds layers about film and culture with a subplot about a French exchange student (Jules Sitruk) who brings to the film project such essential cinematic ingredients as cigarettes and existential posturing.
It's cute, but it's almost exclusively for movies-about-movies buffs. It has the very limited appeal of Michael Winterbottom's "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story," the aforementioned "Vampire" or even Steve Martin's more overtly commercial "Bowfinger." *
Produced by Nick Goldsmith, written and directed by Garth Jennings, music by Joby Talbot, distributed by Paramount Vantage.