Son of Rambow
Paramount Vantage | Release Date: May 2, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
21
Mixed:
7
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Perhaps the most ingeniously imaginative element in Son of Rambow, a film exploding with imagination (some of it scrawled directly over the film in animated expressions of Will's private world), is its very conceit. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
Funny and sweet and guaranteed to flood you with good feeling. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy Burr
In many ways, Son of Rambow plays like a pint-size, even cheekier version of the recent Michel Gondry film "Be Kind Rewind." Both are stories about people making movies not because it's their job but because doing so brings a vast sense of play into their lives. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Watching skinny-armed little Will pretend to be the spawn of Sly Stallone in a series of botched feats of derring-do is a treat, as is much of this film. Read full review
80
Film ThreatJamie Tipps
This year’s diamond in the rough, a small movie that is big in heart and promises to be big at the box office. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Jennings's film, with its missing fathers, sometimes threatens to become cloying, but it's almost always righted by a healthy dose of slapstick or the spectacle of little kids posing as muscle-bound killers. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
A quirky charmer. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Don't be put off by the title. This is no sequel, but a surprisingly charming British comedy that is only tangentially associated with "Rambo." Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneTasha Robinson
A quirk-heavy comedy that tonally reads almost exactly like "Millions," as executed by amateur actors having the time of their lives. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
As is the case with many English comedies, some of the film's slang is hard to understand. But Jennings' sprightly films proves that although England and America are countries divided by the same language, they are united by slapstick comedy. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen Cole
Few movies have captured the intoxicating effect of pop culture on kids better than Son of Rambow. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A gentle story that involves a great deal of violence, but mostly the violence is muted and dreamy, like a confrontation with a fearsome scarecrow that looks horrifying but is obviously not real --- or real enough, but not alive. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
For much of its frolicsome, rambling running-time, Son of Rambow is like a guarana-spiked soft drink: It goes down easy and delivers a kick. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
The film is filled with scenes about scrappy, cut-and-paste filmmaking, and the movie-within-a-movie that drives the plot also ends up as the centerpiece of the hugely affecting final scenes. Read full review
70
Village VoiceJim Ridley
At its most likable, Son of Rambow evokes the rush of discovery that turns budding cinephiles into lifers--that delight in finding a film that seems to express or coalesce some inchoate yearning, including a yen to share. Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
A likable, lightly sticky valentine to childhood, the 1980s and the dawning of movie love, Son of Rambow was written and directed by Garth Jennings and produced by Nick Goldsmith, the duo behind the underappreciated fantasy "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." Read full review
70
SlateDana Stevens
Son of Rambow bristles with the anarchic energy of late childhood and a genuine respect for the life-changing power of movies--even (or especially) the schlocky ones. Read full review
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
A crowd-pleasing combination of buoyant spirit and occasionally dark humor. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
My only regret is that the film could not somehow take a leap forward to 1988. I would love to have seen what Lee and Will could do with "Die Hard." Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The resulting tale of friendship and family touches plenty of crowd-pleasing buttons but comes across as more than a little derivative. Read full review
63
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
An endearing, well-acted trifle with lovely intentions. Read full review
60
VarietyRobert Koehler
A sweetly raucous adventure. Widely quoted comparisons to "Billy Elliot" and Tim Burton overstate the case for what is really a modestly eccentric entertainment. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
Luckily, Son of Rambow, a comedy that's part kid-buddy flick, part valentine to filmmaking - and full of heart - has both. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The team who made "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" display plenty of whirligig energy, if not much control or lightness of touch. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
The shooting of the movie-within-a-movie offers the brightest moments in Son Of Rambow, a testament to the innocence of the boys' creative impulse and the sheer unlikely pleasure of their friendship. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterDuane Byrge
A hodgepodge of popular kids' elements crammed into a mishmash of a movie. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle Smith
An '80s coming-of-age comedy with more energy than ideas. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
The super-hip style is groovy but doesn't mask the fact that Son of Rambow doesn't really go anywhere special or say anything much. For a film about falling in love with the movies, its insights on them are next to nil. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
If it happens to hit you right - that is, if you happen to catch its wavelength of tear-and-a-smile whimsicality - the movie will speak to you. Read full review
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