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Ever see a film as a kid that so captured your imagination that you become obsessed with it for months. You went outside and reenacted it with friends over and over again. You created new grander, more fantastic adventures in your mind for the heroes to get caught up into. Now imagine you’re an imaginative 10-year-old, who due to religious reasons, has never seen a film or TV show. Think about how they would be consumed with the joy of cinema, even if that cinema is a Rambo flick.

Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner, MY BOY JACK) is that imaginative little boy. His father has past away and his mother Mary (Jessica Hynes, SHAUN OF THE DEAD) is doing her best to raise him and his little sister, while taking care of her aged mother, in their ultra-conservative faith. One day while Will sits in the hall while the rest of his class watches a videotape, he has an encounter with the school’s notorious troublemaker Lee Carter (Will Poulter). Inspired by Will’s elaborate sketchbook, Lee blackmails Will into participating in his production for an amateur film contest. To keep his older brother from taking away his video equipment, Lee makes pirated copies of theatrical releases. This is how Will gets his first taste of FIRST BLOOD. Will storyboards their entire film and soon attracts the attention of a very popular French exchange student named Didier Revol (Jules Sitruk). This doesn’t make Lee happy, because he can’t stand Didier and his hordes of clone-like followers.

Director Garth Jennings (HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY) was inspired by his memories of being a young film nut growing up in the 1980s when videotape recorders popped up in every household. In this story, he creates a wonderful odd pairing in Will and Lee. Lee is certainly a bad influence on Will, but Will turns out to be a good influence on Lee, whose home life is very undisciplined. Will hates his ultra-restrictive religion, wanting to have a normal childhood. Their bond is believable, creating real heart. Their enthusiasm is infectious.

This Hammer & Tongs production (the name for Jennings and his producer Nick Goldsmith) has a touch of whimsy and bit of dark humor much like their video and commercial work. Lee gets Will into some seriously dangerous mischief, which would even impress the JACKASS stunt crew. The hyper-cool Didier has a cold disregard for birds and the silly English boys and girls that follow him like he is a movie star. When Will’s imagination really gets hold of him, he slips into animated fantasy worlds where his drawings of flying dogs and evil scarecrows come to life.

This charming film isn’t a “family film” for sure, but families with teens will all enjoy this mix of genuine nostalgia and imaginative playfulness. In Milner and Poulter, Jennings has found two fine young performers. Milner bubbles with the right kind of energy, while Poulter shows some dry comic timing. It’s the kind of inspiring film that might make some of the teens who watch want to go out and make GRANDSON OF RAMBOW.