The first time I saw a movie, I was a year or two old. My parents were the assholes who took me to see Star Wars, and I don’t remember it. They tell me, or have told me repeatedly, that Darth Vader scared the crap out of me (possibly literally, unknown). I remember seeing The Black Hole with Sleeping Beauty (though if memory serves we were late for the latter) and Empire Strikes Back on the big screen. These memories are impressionistic, though. Colors and shapes, and moments more than narratives. But early on… actually it was Jaws. Jaws did it. It unlocked something, something in my brain, something that said “oh my god, this is better than candy and soda and pizza and Mamba’s and video games put together (remember: Frame of reference). For some it was Star Wars, or Close Encounters. And in Garth Jennings’ Son of Rambow, it’s First Blood.

The film is introduced when Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner) says a prayer in front of the theater with the encouraging of his church and mother Mary (Jessica Hynes, AKA Daisy from Spaced). In the theater is Lee Carter (Will Coulter), who’s having a smoke and taping it with a cam-corder. The duo meet up when Will has to wait outside while a film is being shown and Lee is in trouble again. When lee’s roughhousing leads to an accident, the troublemaker decides to take the blame in trade for Will’s watch. The two then develop a friendship which leads to a screening of First Blood for Will, and a new partner in stuntwork for Lee.

Like one’s first exposure with understanding to nudity, or recognizing the erotic charge one gets from sexual stimulation, something in seeing First Blood flips a switch in Will’s brain. It’s a life-changer. He has been spoken to, and the dup start making a film together called “Son of Rambow,” which is basically stunts with a washline thin plot involving Trautman, a scarecrow, and stunts. Lots of stunts. The two become blood brothers, but their relationship is challenged when French Foreign exchange student Didier Revol (Jules Sitruk) takes interest in their project. For Lee it’s an affront,but Will likes being accepted, and being with Didier gets him into the coolest parties, and an acceptance this outsider has never known. Lee is confused because he doesn’t extend himself much, and his only real family is his brother Lawrence (Ed Westiwick, late of Gossip Girl fame). When Didier starts becoming the auteur of the project, Lee can’t take it.

But these mechanics of the plot are never so intrusive. You’re too with Will, and his amusement at becoming a cool kid, if just for one day, to ever doing anything with malice. The stress he’s under is in relationship to his mother, who is inviting Brother Joshua (Neil Dudgeon) into their lives, and looks to be a father figure. Mary is an interesting character, and Hynes gives it a number of great nuances that makes her sympathetic, whilst also someone worth respecting. With Will’s father dead, their family needs each other, and all of Will’s lying to make he movie is disruptive, and against their ways.

But director Garth Jennings gives it the right balance of whimsy and weight. It’s a strong project, and though his much maligned Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was entertaining, but compromised, this shows an artist that is someone to be reckoned with. This is a special, a sweet movie, and if you love movies, it will likely prove to be transporting. It’s movie-mad.

Paramount presents the film in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and in 5.1 surround. Extras include a commentary by Jennings, stars Coulter and Milner, and producer Nick Goldsmith that’s a chatty and fun affair, with Goldsmith killing it by introducing music every once in a while. There’s a making of (26 minutes) , which is basically a love letter to the two stars, and the director’s “first” feature Aron (14 min.) which is a convoluted military gun story. There’s also a contest winner of a early film (5 min.) and bonus trailers.

Of note: Edgar Wright makes a cameo. It appears Jennings and Wright do this to each other, as both have appeared in each other’s movies.