Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on November 2010

Son of Rambow: ©Hammer Tongs, Celluloid Dream, Arte France, Network Movie, Reason Pictures

Two British schoolboy misfits in the ’80s (Bill Milner and Will Poulter), a habitual troublemaker and a sheltered kid from a religious fundamentalist family, pool their fertile imaginations to film their own version of Rambo: First Blood. The project leads to popularity and greater acceptance, as well as Life Lessons Learned. Pity, though, that the filmmakers didn’t make better use of their own imaginations. This feel-good, quirk-heavy movie is hard not to like, and its final scenes are affecting, but its fairly by-the-numbers approach often makes it seem more than a little contrived.