Hey all. Capone in Chicago here.

Allow me to jump on the bandwagon with both feet and pledge my love for SON OF RAMBOW, a film that not only captures the first moment when you realized that you loved movies, but also personifies that instant in your life when you realized it was okay to be creative and different (some of you may not have had that moment yet, but don't give up!) It's also the film that comes closest to reminding me what it must have been like for those kids who did the shot-for-shot remake of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK back in the '80s. If a film ever gets made of that story, I'm guessing it will feel a lot like this one.

Newcomer Bill Milner plays Will Proudfoot, a young British lad who has grown up in the 1980s without a father and in a highly restrictive religious household. He's not allowed to watch movies of any sort, which is why when a teacher is about to play a documentary for the class on a certain subject, Will must leave the classroom and sit in the hall. In the hall is where Will meets Lee Carter (Will Poulter, another newcomer), the school troublemaker who never misses the opportunity to swindle and con a classmate. Lee comes from a well-off household, although his parents are rarely home to provide guidance. For a little extra cash, Will totes Lee's brother's giant video camera into the local cinema to bootleg the latest films, including FIRST BLOOD, which introduced the world to the character of John Rambo. Lee has his heart set on making a short film for a local competition, and he enlists his new friend Will to be in it. While hiding in Lee's basement for an extended time, Will watches the legendary Stallone movie about the man who could take on 200 aggressors with little more than a knife and his training, and his life is never the same.

The two boys set out to make their short film, which Will decides will be a sequel of sorts to FIRST BLOOD in which he plays the son of John Rambo (the "Rambow" of the title comes from Will missing the opening credits of the film and never seeing how the character's name is spelled). Will goes from shy child whose only creative outlet is drawing funny cartoons on every flat surface he can get his hands on to amateur stuntman and actor for his friend's movie. While the boys attempt to keep their project a secret from Lee's older brother, Will's overbearing mother (comic actress Jessica Stevenson, in a nice dramatic turn as the lonely, slightly desperate widow), and their fellow students, word gets out that the kids are up to something, and soon everybody wants to be a part of the action. A too-cool-for-words French exchange student (Jules Sitruk) wants a co-lead role, while other kids want to be production assistants, 2nd unit directors, special effects guys, you name it. The size and the scope of the production causes a rift between our two heroes (anyone seeing a Hollywood parallel here?) and tests their friendship.

SON OF RAMBOW is the work of producer Nick Goldsmith and writer-director Garth Jennings (collectively known as Hammer & Tongs, makers of recent film version of THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY), whose passion for the subject matter and the art of filmmaking is infectious. The film is overflowing with energy and laughs, and I may have to resort to daring you not to be entertained by this rousing little masterpiece. On top of this great story, Hammer & Tongs have created one of the quintessential films about growing up in the UK during the 1980s. The soundtrack alone is nearly worth the price of admission, and the accurate depictions of the clothes and the attitudes is flawless without being an exaggeration. The emotional heart of Son of Rambow is the friendship, and I haven't been this moved by a film about two great childhood buddies since Stand By Me. This is a work that both children and adults can love and embrace equally, and I will consider you not seeing it (assuming it opens somewhere near you) a betrayal to all that is good about movies. The end.

Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com