“Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” director Garth Jennings’ “Son of Rambow” breathes life into late 1980’s England. The film follows Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner), an 11-year-old boy fascinated with the world around him. Will’s a cartoonist, and his drawings come to life in ways very similar to those of Gael Garcia Bernal’s character in Michel Gondry’s “The Science of Sleep”. The film experiments a little bit with animation, and I wish it devoted just a little more screen-time to bringing Will’s absurd drawings to reality, since these provide the most visually-pleasing shots of the film.

Will’s life is filled with fantasy largely because of his family’s strict religious beliefs: no music, no movies and no TV. Luckily, Will’s exodus from his strict culture-free diet comes in the form of Lee Carter (Will Poulter), a 12-year-old troublemaker with the dream of winning a BBC film contest. He bullies and takes advantage of Will’s naivety at the beginning, and cajoles him into becoming a stunt man for his secret film. But the true magic of the film comes when Will watches a pirated version of “First Blood” at Lee’s house, and his first view of cinema seemingly explodes his imagination until he can’t help but live the life of an infamous warrior: Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo. Together, Will and Lee embark upon a journey to make an epic movie called “Son of Rambow.”

The film is as much a fantasy as any other genre. Director Jennings chooses to make Will and Lee’s campus absurd and far-fetched, making the scenes of the playground a microcosm of real life, filled with nightclubs and several pop-culture cliques up the ying-yang. A group of trendy French exchange students also descend upon the school and completely revamp the playground atmosphere. One such new-wave hipster student, Didier (Jules Sitruk), takes charge of not only every girl’s heart and every boy’s personality, but also Lee’s film. With him involved, the whole school wants to be a part of the film.

It is noteworthy that the two main actors do a phenomenal job with their characters. Especially Will Poulter: I could not picture any other kid playing Lee.   The other actors are well-cast as well, and help carry the fantastical story with authentic and believable performances of far-fetched characters.

“Rambow” is an offbeat tale of growing up. It is not a coming-of-age film, as the characters never really grow up, which is perfectly fine since this is a story about the beauty and innocence of childhood.

Using the framework of a film within a film, we remember the days when we could be out for 10 hours playing a pretend battle in the backyard with all our friends. Yes, the characters end up fighting some crisis and doubting each other’s friendship, but it’s all in a days work for kids: their lives move on with ease.

The film meddles with the line between fantasy and reality, which allowed the scenes to become all the more tangible for me.

What makes the film unique is the multitude of exaggerated stereotypes and off-the-wall characters, but it also tries to give a bit of commentary on various religious restrictions and family interactions.

At its core, though, the most enjoyable and rewarding parts come from a few dreamlike sequences and absurd humor.

It’s nothing mind-blowing; just a simple, good-hearted story about two kids embarking upon a humble journey to filmdom and friendship.