Son of Rambow

So, this movie wasn't too good.  I think conceptually, somehow using Rambo: First Blood as part of the story was a cool idea and that probably drew people into watching it.  The guy that directed this movie is a famous music video director who has done a lot of stuff for Blur.  The problem is the same one that I see from a lot of music video/commercial directors in that they can do fancy visual camera tricks, but they think that stringing a series of these together will make a compelling story.  The mixing of reality with animation is done well here and the characters are somewhat compelling though a bit cliche.  It starts to feel like a Gondry knock-off pretty fast while we marvel at the creativity of the young protagonist who draws amazing worlds in the pages of his textbooks.  However, the story stumbles once it gets into more serious territory like religious cults, brothers that raise brothers and the true meaning of friendship.  The ending is borrowed a bit from "Cinema Paradiso" and the tears of the kid at the end make you want to toss the DVD out the window.  I guess this is worth watching if you wanted to direct an effects-heavy commercial or music video and saw this as part of his reel-- as a film it's too much gravy and not enough meat.  Mmm, Thanksgiving is right around the corner...