Delayed Reaction: Son of Rambow

The Pitch: Two boys in England decide to make a sequel to First Blood.

There's a certain kind of movie that I call "Sundance movies" that really connect with me. I call them Sundance movies because that's what they normally are: movies that premiere at Sundance. They're normally coming of age stories. They often meander and go down a lot of side tangents that don't add to the story but contribute to the world of the movie. Many indie movies I watch play more like short stories than novels. These "Sundance movies" are almost like a collection of short stories. Me & Earl & The Dying Girl and The Way Way Back are great examples of this. Dope too. And The Kings of Summer. Not all of these are perfect, but they all have the same DNA.

So, it's no surprise that I really enjoyed Son of Rambow. Plus, it falls under another category of movie that I respond to: If a movie ends with characters watching a film that they spent the whole movie making, I'm going to respond favorably. It sold me on Bowfinger. It played well into Me & Earl & the Dying Girl. And it worked here.

This is a damn charming movie. Director Garth Jennings loves playing in this silly world he creates. Bill Milner and the increasingly ubiquitous Will Poulter are completely charming throughout. It took a little while for me to settle into this, but once I did, it was a real delight.

Another small beat I wanted to point out. Perhaps I misunderstood the intent of this, but I loved the twist toward the end, in the school bus with the French students. The whole movie presents Didier as a larger than life cool kid in England. Once he's back with only his French classmates, he's actually a reject. There's a lot of shifting dynamics like that among the characters that surprised me.

Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend