See that “w” in the title? It’s there for a reason. Son of Rambow is not—I repeat, not—a sequel to the Sylvester Stallone series of violent action movies. I emphasize this not so much to cajole the audience who would enjoy this sort of gentle entertainment as to warn away those looking for violent action, on the grounds that the latter in their disappointment would be likely (as they did at the preview I attended) to spoil things for the former. Set in the early 1980s, this charming British comedy concerns two schoolboys who, inspired by viewing a pirated videotape of First Blood, decide to make their own version of it. They have no resources other than access to a video camera that one of their brothers is using to record movies playing in the local cinema. The boys initially seem to have nothing in common: New-in-town Will (Bill Milner) is a slight boy being raised by his single mother in a Quaker-like religious sect that forbids its members from watching television or movies (and nothing makes it harder for a shy child to fit in than not being able to share in the junk culture of his peers). Lee (Will Poulter) seems to be the school bully, though his rowdiness masks an uncertain life in which he is only minimally supervised by his older brother. They plan to enter their movie in a BBC contest for young filmmakers, but that’s only an excuse: These kids have no interest in continuity, cinematography, lighting, etc, etc., but they have plenty of imagination when it comes to ways to mimic action movie clichés with no money.

It’s a thin basis for a feature film, which is why the story is padded out with vignettes involving some of their schoolmates who have fallen in thrall to a French exchange student, whose exaggerated boredom provides some of the funniest moments. Reminiscent at times of Bill Forsythe’s Gregory’s Girl, Son of Rambow looks to have been made by filmmakers only slightly older and equipped than its protagonists, though in fact it is the product of the same duo who wrote, directed, and produced the big-budget The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Sometimes you can go back again.

—m. faust