Genre: Comedy
Released: 2008

I think everyone had the exact same first impression when they saw the title of this film. Does this have anything to do with the actual son of Rambo? Well, kind of, but not in the way you would think. Son of Rambow has definitely been earning a lot of praise and apparently has been killing at festivals. I honestly had no clue what the film was about before I saw it. The poster seemed interesting though considering it was a young kid with a fake missile launcher in his hand, while he is sitting in the woods with camouflage and make-up on his face. I thought maybe it was some kind of parody on the RAMBO films. Well, I was kind of half right and half wrong. The movie actually is a British film, so you get a lot of that dry British humor and dialogue. It actually kind of reminded me of a British version of Napoleon Dynamite. Other people were saying that it was kind of like a poor man's Be Kind Rewind, which I can kind of see and you might think so as well, when I get to the plot outline. What is amazing about this film is that the film's two stars are acting in their first movies of the career and they can't be more than 10 years old. Son of Rambow stars Bill Milner (1st movie), Will Poulter (1st movie), Jessica Hynes (Shaun of the Dead), Neil Dudgeon and Jules Sitruk; which is probably the highlight of the entire film.

The plotline to this film will sound ridiculous to you, so please stay with me. Essentially, the film opens and we meet Will Proudfoot (Milner), a young kid who keeps to himself usually. His family is very religious and part of a brethren. He is so sheltered that his mom never lets him watch TV. Anytime he is in school and his teachers are showing anything on TV, he usually leaves the class to sit outside and draw and write his ideas in this big diary-type book he keeps. One day, while sitting outside the classroom, he meets Lee Carter (Poulter), who is your typical trouble maker kid. They both get in trouble and are sent to the principal's office, where Lee Carter says he will take all the blame if Will gives him his watch. He also later asks for Will to help him make a movie for a young film festival called "Screen Test." Lee Carter has an idea of a movie he wants to make, but one day Will sets his eyes on Rambo for the first time in his life and decides he wants to help make the movie but call it Son of Rambow and have it tell the story of Rambo's son and the fact that he has come to his father's rescue. So the rest of the film, he is starting to make this film with Lee Carter, but also dealing with the issue of his family thinking he is becoming an outcast. Just a little side part; there is character named Didier Revol, who is a French exchange student who has come to their school. He is pretty much a prima-donna and everyone kisses the ground he walks on. He becomes involved in their little movie later on.

Overall, this is definitely a movie out of left field, but it does have some pretty funny laughs and does make you feel really tingly inside. I know that sounds gay, but it does make you feel really good.

The two stars of the film, Will Poulter and Will Proudfoot, are absolutely phenomenal. I don't know why, but the entire film, I kept thinking about Stand By Me. Will Poulter looked just like one of the kids from that film. The kid who played Vidier Revol did a great job as well.

The movie is definitely one of the more original films you will see all year. It takes a while to get used to it though. I wasn't a big fan of the first 20 minutes or so of the film. It just didn't move along as well as it should have, but the selling point was how well it picked up when they actually started shooting the film and the ending of the film is absolutely phenomenal.

I give the film a 3.5 BDK rating because it really was fun to watch. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece or anything, but it was definitely entertaining and very original. I would either watch it as a matinee or a rental. No need to pay full ticket price for this.