Picturenose

Make believe. Not war.

It’s all over for me this year. I have seen the best British film that will be released in 2008. James always tells me I’m a little slow to criticize movies and I’m inclined to agree – as I’m not contractually obliged to see films I may hate, I tend to like the ones I see. Of course, if it turns out to be rubbish, you can be sure I’ll faithfully report the fact. Anyway, enough of my personal issues – Garth Jenning’s Son of Rambow should win awards by the bucketload. If it doesn’t, there’s no justice, pure and simple. So sure am I it will be successful, I’m going to award it the Picturenose ‘5-Star, Thumbs-Up, A1, All-Round Bloody Cracker of a Movie’ award right here and now. The others are sure to follow.

Produced by the Hammer and Tongs company, it was snapped up by Universal movies for a record $8m following its warm reception at the Sundance Festival last year. I was a little concerned at first, as the only other thing of note the company has done has been the frankly disappointing Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005), but I needn’t have worried. It features a largely unknown cast – a few faces will be familiar to regular movie-goers, and only Jessica Stevenson (or Jessica Hynes as she is now known) and a sublime Eric Sykes will be instantly recognizable.

The movie is set during the 1980s in a long, hot English summer. In the interests of full disclosure, I am obliged to point out that this is a decade I have very fond memories of – and no, not necessarily for the outrageous fashions and truly awful music – although Son of Rambow represents these and many more culturally iconic facets very faithfully. Will (Bill Milner) comes from a Plymouth Brethren family and, as a member of the sect, is not allowed to watch any television, even in school. He is sent out with his exercise book to work on his own in the corridor while the rest of the class watches a documentary on geography. This leads him to encounter Lee Carter (Will Poulter) who is thrown out of class for playing with a tennis ball – I particularly liked the way Lee slumps down against the wall and starts bouncing his tennis ball, a beautiful and funny homage to Steve McQueen’s Captain Hilts in The Great Escape (1963).

Taking the rap for the ensuing destruction of the school goldfish bowl, Lee Carter tells Will that he owes him, and in repayment must be the stuntman in the movie he’s shooting on his brother’s video camera, hoping to win the young filmmaker’s TV programme, Screen Test. What begins as an opportunistic ruse to lure a gullible and unworldly student into doing the dirty work, leads to a tenuous friendship.

The theme of the film is based on this unlikely alliance, growing up and sense of loss – Will’s because he is forced to abandon the Brethren’s strict codes due to his new-found excitement for all things film, and Lee’s because he is being looked after by his older brother while his wealthy parents live it up on a Spanish Costa.

News of the film gets around the school and pretty soon, everyone wants in. The arrival of French exchange students adds to the strain, as it brings with it the ultra-cool (and ludicrously dressed) Didier Revolve (Jules Sitruk). Everyone is in awe of this cool continental character and it’s not long before he insists on being in the movie. The whole thing burgeons out of all control, testing their friendship and putting both boys under great stress.

The simplicity of the story, the strong performances and a truly wonderful cast make this movie an absolute delight to watch. It may be set in the 80s but the tale itself is timeless. It’s one of those films where I had a genuine tear in my eye at the end. Even better than that, I saw it in a cinema in England, where people will simply get up and walk out after a film – but they saw the credits come up and they actually applauded. The buzz walking out of the cinema was something I have not heard (or felt) in a long, long, time. Read all the reviews you want, but the people have spoken – this is a winner.

96 mins.