Hammer & Tongs are a British film making team comprised of Garth Jennings (director) and Nick Goldsmith (producer); they came onto the London music video scene, guns a blazin' back in the 1990's, creating excellent videos for Britpop greats like Blur ("Coffee & TV") and Supergrass ("Pumping On Your Stereo").

Like so many others who cut their teeth writing and creating music videos, they had their eye on the prize and before too long, Hammer & Tongs were directing and producing a big budget remake of The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy. A fine effort, but perhaps too grandiose an undertaking for a first feature; that said, it really is worth a watch. But Son Of Rambow should have been their first film. It looks, feels and smells like a first film and seeing as how Jennings wrote it, it smacks of Tongs' brand of razor sharp but sweet filmmaking. Which is to say that it's great.

Will (Bill Milner) is a pre-teen boy in rural England, circa 1982; his dad is dead and his mom (Jessica Stevenson aka Daisy Steiner from Spaced) is mixed up in a TV-hating religious organization called the Brethen. Stiffled, Will escapes by doodling his way through the entire bible, and his sketches are indeed a glorious, Crayola-perfect encapsulation of boyish fantasy. However, when he encounters outcaste Carter in the school hallway, he soon learns the true meaning of escapsism. Carter is a bit of a miscreant, tended to by his foppish older brother while his mother seems to be AWOL on a permanent dalliance in Spain. At Carter's house, Will sees a bootleg copy of First Blood and is literally consumed by the explosive, bloody action. Soon enough, the boys are making their own take on the film, blending Sly's penchant for ultraviolence with Will's exuberant imaginings. The boys become blood brothers but they are tested when a foppish, New Wave French exchange student Didier becomes interested in their film and starts to take over the production.

Naive animated dream sequences, a brilliant but understated 80's soundtrack and outstanding performances from both of the young stars of the film had my heartstrings a-twanging. There is a purity to this story, albeit laced with smart comedy and great period styling, that really delivers on themes like friendship, growing up, and of course, racing to the chopper while dodging a machine gun straffin, flying dog!

Son of Rambow is a giddy love letter to any boys who ever dressed up in mix and match army fatigues and went to war in the woods behind their house. That is to say, my entire generation. Thanks Tongs!