Panadola Diction

I went along to ‘Son of Rambow’ in Cineworld last night, and made sure to avoid the masses of sweeteaters and seat hoggers by arriving early this time. As I was knackered, I was really hoping that the film wasn’t going to turn into an expensive nap.

Thankfully, the film whipped along at a decent pace, and kept my attention throughout. Youngsters, Bill Milner and Will Poulter seem like real finds, proving that child actors don’t have to all be the same. Milner does especially well, playing the innocent religious outcast Will Proudfoot, while Poulter is always amusing, and surprisingly layered, as school troublemaker Lee Carter.

On several occasions, the film veers from believable coming-of-age, boys-will-be-boys material (which is often hilarious, if unremarkable), into the surreal, comic-book world of a ten year old’s imagination, as the two boys try to film their own home-movie version of ‘First Blood’. 

A couple of moments flirt with Hollywood shmaltz, but it seems to get away with it. The warm humour, the absurdity, the early 80’s setting, a soundtrack including The Cure and The Banshees, the (slightly over used) ridiculous French character Didier, and some fine performances left me with a smile on my face leaving the cinema.

 -Two thumbs up out of two

Yep, I loved it. Total feelgood stuff but it’s quirky enough to be different and original. Some real laugh out loud moments too. Thanks for the recommendation!