thefinalcountdown

Periodically I head over to Comingsoon.net and read the descriptions of all the movies coming out in the next six months so that I can know ahead of time what movies sound interesting. When I was looking at the movies coming out during the middle of 2008 there were several blockbusters I wanted to see this summer like Iron Man, Indiana Jones and Batman Begins. Hidden away in all those blockbusters though was a small movie called Son of Rambow that also sounded interesting. I made sure to make a mental note to see Son of Rambow when it came on on DVD and I’m glad I did.

Son of Rambow is the story of boys that are polar opposites but come together because of their love of movies. Will (Bill Milner) is a very shy young boy that never gets into trouble. He has a very strict mother that makes him go to church often because they are a part of the very scrupulous Plymouth Brethren religous sect. Lee Carter (Will Poulter) is possibly the school’s biggest problem child. He’s been neglected by his parent that are always away on vacation and by his older brother that lives at home with him.

Will’s religious beliefs are so confining that he isn’t allowed to watch television. When his class at school watches a documentary he must leave the room. It is then that Will has a chance encounter with Lee Carter that leads to them becoming partners in crime. After school Will goes home with Lee Carter and finds that Lee Carter is a big movie fan. Lee illegally tapes movies and makes copies of them and is even working on his own film. Lee leaves Will behind in the shed out back while he goes off to do something and Will begins to watch First Blood starring Sylvester Stallone. The boy that has never even watched a single movie or television program is suddenly mesmerized. Will seeing his first movie is like a blind man being able to see for the first time. Suddenly the whole world is different.

Will and Lee Carter begin making their movie and suddenly the shy Will breaks out of his shell. He’s no longer quiet and reserved but instead is running around the forrest pretending to shoot guns and yelling at the top of his lungs. At one point in time he even dives into a lake even though he can’t swim. Why would he do that? Because Rambo would.

Son of Ranbow is has a great message. Movies are more than just entertainment. Movies are more than just something you take a date to. Movies are creations. Movies are imagination. Movies are pieces of art to the creator, even if nobody else thinks so.

Will’s reaction to seeing a movie for the first time reminds us of our youth. After seeing First Blood Will runs around the forest with a bandana around his forehead yelling “I am the Son of Rambow!” We probably all remember the same experiences when we were a kid. Now movies are just one and a half hours of entertainment. After a movie we go home and complain about how bad it was or talk about how good it is and then we store it away. But at one point in time seeing a good movie resulted in hours and hours of entertainment because afterwards we would go out and in the yard and play as our favorite character everyday. That is what this movie captures perfectly. The beauty of innocence. The beauty of imagination.

Later in the Son of Rambow more kids at school learn that Will and Lee Carter are making a movie and they want to join in. Soon the movie becomes a lot of work. There are more actors and extras, which means more costumes. They even get to the point where they have lighting and sets. As there are more people involved in the movie there are more people to please and all the frustration and hard work puts a strain on Will and Lee’s relationship. It’s as if to say making movies are a lot of work and sometimes not fun at all.

I’m sure there are some film makers that ultimately love their jobs but there are definitely a lot of difficulties that go along with it. Making a film requires putting up with what the studio wants, trying not to destroy the writer’s work and please Hollywood actors that are sometimes big divas. Film makers have a budget to work with, they have a deadline, they only have so much time to shoot a scene before there is no light. Not to mention your finished piece is going to be ridiculed no matter how good it is.

But there was a time when none of that mattered. When you would go over to your friend’s house and it was just the two of you pretending to be the Son of Rambow. Personally I always wanted to be Madmartigan because he was the greatest swordsman that ever lived and because Sorsha was hot or I wanted to be one of the X-Men. I can understand the fasicnation with Rambo though, if Rambo is good enough for Gizmo in Gremlins 2 then he’s good enough for me. But I digress, there was no arguing over what was going to happen in your creative fantasy world, unless you and your friend wanted to be the same character (fortunately I was never a Wolverine fan so my friend could be him as much as he wanted). There were no studios to please, no scripts to follow and there definitely weren’t any critics judging how good your imagination was. That’s the beauty of kids and their imaginations. That’s the beauty of Son of Rambow.

Ultimate Movie Rankings:
1. Son of Rambow

Movies I’m planning to watch soon: Fireflies in the Garden, Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow, Throne of Blood, The Twilight Samurai, Meet Dave, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

Trackback URI | Comments RSS