Monday, November 24, 2008

HE’S ALL I’VE GOT

Lee (left) and Will (right) working on their film Son of Rambow

Who knew that Rambo: First Blood was enough to bring a nearly-orphaned outcast bully and a Mennonite-like boy together? The next logical step, of course, is for Lee and Will to become blood brothers, in the longstanding traditional of boyhood friendship rituals.

Son of Rambow is a wonderful indie film about two English boys from the 1980’s. Lee’s mother remarried and travels the world with her new hubby, while Lee and his older brother stay home, which is conveniently attached to the step-fathers business – a rest home. Lee is left to his own devices as his older brother lives his teen life, leaving Lee in the lurch for love and affection.

Will is the oldest of four, living with his widower mother. They belong to an ultra-conservative church known as The Brotherhood, kin to the Amish or Mennonite. It is a closed society where fraternization with the outside world is mostly forbidden. A chance meeting at the public school make for a needed friendship for both boys centered around the making of a movie. The inspiration of which comes from … you guessed it … Rambo: First Blood. The heretofore innocent Will is enamored, blow away, even infatuated with the movie as it is his first exposure to moving pictures of any kind. It takes over his thoughts and he lies to his mother to get to be with Lee and his video camera.

Naturally, it all ends up a mess, especially for poor Will who ends up in Dutch with his mother and the church. Unlike other indie films, this one ends up okay. Skinny Kitty was leary as the movie progressed. With independent films you never really know.

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