Entertainment

<< Previous   of   Next >> Paramount Vantage photo  (click to enlarge) Will Poulter (left) and Bill Milner star in the film "Son of Rambow."   ADVERTISEMENT   "Son of Rambow" Whimsy: Two boys in 1980s rural England decide to make a video sequel to the first "Rambo" movie -- a premise that begins with kooky energy but eventually goes all squishy and sentimental. Bill Milner and Will Poulter are talented kid actors, however. Rated: PG-13 rating for violence, subject matter Now showing: Guild 45th   CONTACT THE HERALD Melanie Munk, Features Editor munk@heraldnet.com   Published: Friday, May 9, 2008 'Son of Rambow': Fun energy gives way to excessive whimsy By Robert Horton Herald Movie Critic After its wonderfully kooky start, "Son of Rambow" peters off into blah-ville. But for a while, it's a funny portrait of childhood in the '80s. Two boys in rural England meet as polar opposites. Will (Bill Milner) is a cautious kid, the product of a fundamentalist upbringing that doesn't allow watching TV or movies. Lee (Will Poulter) is the local bad boy, whom we first meet imitating (consciously or not) the Steve McQueen character from "The Great Escape." Lee's parents aren't around, but he acts at the beck and call of his authoritarian older brother. The two lads fall under the sway of the current Sylvester Stallone movie, "First Blood," and decide to make a video sequel to the tale of John Rambo. Will stars as "Son of Rambow," a misspelling that doesn't stifle the boys' creativity. Director Garth Jennings, who did a nice job with "A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," gets the feel of childhood in these early reels, and the reasons boys might act out all manner of aggression. If he's overly indebted to the style of Wes Anderson, especially "Rushmore," it's at least an understandable influence. He also introduces some amusing peripheral characters, including a French exchange student (Jules Sitruk) who looks as though he stepped out of a Flock of Seagulls music video. Having set the premise up, the filmmaker doesn't seem to know where to take it, and the last half of the movie gets all squishy and sentimental, while reaching for something heavy. The child actors (the grown-ups don't make much of an impression) are fine, with Milner and Poulter doing a classic yin-yang act. It's not their fault that excessive whimsy (a flying dog kite?) finally overwhelms the movie.

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