DVD Review: Son of Rambow

Rich Heldenfels - Akron Beacon Journal

Aug 25, 2008

Son of Rambow is a modest little film, but one well worth your time when it arrives on DVD.

Retailing for $19.99 from Paramount Home Entertainment, Son of Rambow is about two boys brought together -- and made better -- through a love of making movies. It is being offered for sale exclusively through Best Buy and for rent "at all major rental locations."

Lee Carter (played by Will Poulter) is a school troublemaker and bully whose dream is to win a filmmaking contest. He is assembling his own movie from pieces shot on his own and bits of a bootlegged copy of First Blood, the original Rambo movie. Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner) has never seen a movie as Son of Rambow begins, because he is part of a Plymouth Brethren religious sect that turns away from mass media. When a TV show is screened in his schoolroom, Will has to sit outside.

But Will is an artist and writer, and becomes Lee's collaborator on the film, playing the "son of Rambow." But making the film gets complicated, especially when a French exchange student (Jules Sitruk) gets involved. And the movie flounders a bit as it deals with conflicts among the characters, before finding its way to a sweet, funny ending.

Milner and Poulter are especially entertaining, with an unmannered approach to acting. According to the DVD's making-of segment, neither had serious acting experience before making Son of Rambow. The DVD also includes an audio commentary and Aron, a short film by Garth Jennings, which inspired him to write and direct Son of Rambow. And look for Ed Westwick -- Chuck on Gossip Girl -- as Lee's older brother.

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