Son of Rambow.

"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," writes Manohla Dargis in the New York Times. "Like that film, this one involves a snug community of oddballs and outcasts whose eccentricities, pluck and fundamental good cheer have long been durable staples of British screen comedy."

"Mr Jennings starts out gangbusters, only to turn disappointingly unimaginative," writes Nicolas Rapold in the New York Sun. "The second half of Son of Rambow has the feel of a hack sequel to the first half, losing a loony-but-credible touch for childhood and friendship in order to go through the motions (quirky though they may be) and wrap things up. Still, on the whole it's better than most studio comedies."

Updated through 5/8.

"[A]t 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," writes Jim Ridley in the Voice.

"[T]his backward-looking pint-sized Ed Wood often sails by on the charms of its formula - it's an appealingly rambunctious boy's adventure in the guise of a paean to the artistic process (not the other way around)," writes Michael Koresky at indieWIRE.

"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," writes Slate's Dana Stevens.

"It all sounds a bit twee, I know, but the boys' delight over First Blood is infectious - a rambunctious paean to the therapeutic joys of imaginary violence," writes Jesse Hassenger in the L Magazine. "It's carried out by Hammer & Tongs, an English production team guided by Garth Jennings, whose work here recalls Michel Gondry - not just in the story's resemblance to Be Kind Rewind, but in his fluid mixing of reality and daydream."

"Along with Rushmore's precocious amateurism, Jennings and company might have done well to borrow some subtext, too," suggests Scott Tobias at the AV Club.

In the Los Angeles Times, Mark Olsen reports that Sylvester Stallone likes it: "The fact that it was so heartwarming is the result of brilliant filmmaking by its creators."

"By the way, this is also a film that is very funny," writes Noah Forrest at Movie City News. "And the interesting thing about it is that it's funny in a way that doesn't make you feel stupid for laughing at it."

"Jennings misses the emotional connection between social realism and pop music," argues Armond White in the New York Press.

For Filmmaker, Nick Dawson talks with Jennings "about 80s movies, the pressures of making Hitchhiker's and playing a crackhead in Hot Fuzz."

S James Snyder talks with Jennings for the New York Sun.

The IFC's Matt Singer talks with Jennings and Goldsmith.

Earlier: Reviews from the UK and Sundance.

Update, 5/6: Peter Smith talks with Jennings and Goldsmith for Screengrab.

Updates, 5/8: "[W]hile they shoot their little remake, Son of Rambow positively soars," writes Bradley Steinbacher in the Stranger. "It's only near the end, when the film flirts with cheap sentimentality in order to bring things to a close, that it risks derailing. But even that minor stumble is trumped by the sheer joy of watching Will and Lee in the dark, their creation flickering before their eyes."

Online listening tip. Jennings gets Elvis Mitchell to give us a few more of those belly laughs on The Treatment.

Posted by dwhudson at May 2, 2008 1:52 PM