Full of cutesy charisma and nave vigour, Son of Rambow is a singularly crowd pleasing antecedent to similarly toned British films like Billy Elliot that rather waffles between heart on its sleeve candour and winking self awareness. Staged in the East of England in the early 1980s, the film concerns a Plymouth Brethren boy named Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner), his rascally, poor little rich boy mate Lee Carter (Will Poulter) and Ted Kotcheff's iconic 1982 film First Blood.

Living happily within the cacoon of his strict religious constructs, Will has never been to the cinema or watched television until a secret viewing of Sly Stallone's introduction as John Rambo inverts his world view, making him a willing participant in Lee's ambitious film project - eventually known as Son of Rambow.

While advertised as a scene for scene remake (a "swede" in the vernacular of Michel Gondry's Be Kind Rewind), the film they attempt to make is actually some kind of ersatz sequel, combining elements of First Blood with Will's father issues and Lee's youthful - and manic - panache, to ruinous familial and cinematic results.

The two boys are undeniably cute, the film is cleverly constructed by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy producing and directing team Nick Goldsmith and Garth Jennings and the strength of the performances from the young cast cannot be overstated. Indeed, it ticks all of the heartfelt and funny boxes necessary to elevate it above lesser comedies, but the film's tone betrays its intent, as surreal elements and a rollicking rock soundtrack (Jennings has directed videos for Blur and R.E.M.) combine to cast a post-modern, self-aware and sometimes cynical pall over the proceedings.