The Stranger

In Garth Jennings's admirable Son of Rambow (which was the opening night film of SIFF 2007), two fatherless boys—the sheltered and devoutly religious Will (Bill Milner) and the bullying and all-but-abandoned Lee (Will Poulter)—bond while trying to remake First Blood for a BBC competition, encountering near-death experiences, religious interference, and très cool French exchange students along the way. For both boys, the Stallone flick offers an escape—Will finds a dream of a father; Lee sees a chance to impress the brother who ignores him—and while they shoot their little remake, Son of Rambow positively soars. Throughout, Jennings keeps things loose, allowing humor to rise organically from his two leads, whose friendship feels completely authentic. It's only near the end, when the film flirts with cheap sentimentality, 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. By Bradley Steinbacher

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