Hammer and Tongs (a.k.a. Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith) are the British production company behind some of the best music videos of the late nineties.  They were responsible for the anthropomorphised milk carton in Blur’s Coffee and TV and showed the evolution of man for Fatboy Slim’s Right Here, Right Now.  Son of Rambow is their second full length film, and a bona fide flag-flier for British cinema.

The two central characters of the film are familiar from our school days; the gobby kid who was funny and the quiet kid who was just plain odd.  Will Proudfoot is the latter - a submissive lad from a strict religious family whose doctrine forbids the watching of television and films and listening to pop music.  Basically he’s allowed to eat, sleep, read the Bible and go to school.  Unsurprisingly, he has an overactive imagination and lives in a dream world, making flip books and drawing comic style stories in his bible and on the toilet walls at school.  Lee Carter, on the other hand is defiant and arrogant with a home life that rarely involves any parental intervention.  He makes pirate videos for his brother, skips school and smokes.  Their chance first meeting is down to them being sent out of different classes at the same time and an unfortunate incident with a goldfish bowl. 

When Will sees Lee’s dodgy copy of Rambo his mind has a field day.  Imagine that you have never seen anything on telly before. Now imagine that the first thing that you ever see is Rambo in all his macho glory.  Yeah...  With the timeless use of a tie round his head and stripped to his vest he becomes son of Rambo, ready to save his Dad and the day.  Lee couldn’t have found a better friend; he now has the stuntman he needs for his film and a character and story to boot.  Cue Will having the first freedom in his life and Lee living his dream as a director.

Lee Carter and Will Truelove aren’t that dissimilar; they are both creative yet lonely and have dysfunctional families.  All credit to the young actors for their portrayal of their characters; this film would have fallen flat with lesser acting.  Their relationship has a realism that is hard to capture and is ever changing, not just a string of clichés.  Set in the eighties, those of a certain age will be able to relate to the mood of the film which retains an innocence that is suited to the character’s ages.  The sixth form common room isn’t really believable but it’s how you might have imagined it to be or wished it was like.  The teachers smoke in the staff room, everyone smokes in the cinema, the camcorder they use is as big as a house and the kids all say “skill”. 

Son of Rambow does lean towards looking back to the halcyon days of youth when things were simpler and the summer lasted forever.  Though don’t be fooled by the “heart-warming” tag that’s been attached to it; this is not a gushy, nostalgic film.  Garth Jennings has kept the balance between light and fluffy and deep and meaningful.  There are moments where it seems to get a little sidetracked but overall this is a well developed story with some really funny bits.  Skill on toast.

Son of Rambow website

 

Comment (0) Send to friend Print Add to Facebook Socialise