Son of Rambow vs. Indiana Jones and the Implausible Artifact

There's nothing like examining the stratification of society through the medium of filmmaking budgets. Son of Rambow is a pretty good example of your standard indie film, even though it undoubtedly has a slightly bigger budget than most – Hammer & Tongs, the makers, were the dudes who brought us the latest version of Hitchhikers Guide. Compared to the budget that Lucas had for IJ:KotCS, though, Hammer & Tongs might as well have scraped quarters off the floor of a taxicab to craft their little masterpiece.

George Lucas has too much money. Necessity is the mother of invention, which might explain why Indiana Jones feels soooo been there done that. Despite the (loud) protests of Lucas and Co., who took pains to say that the movie was going to rely on 'old-fashioned' techniques to keep the feel of the franchise, Indy looks like he's lost in a sea of special effects. It's not that he merely outruns a nuclear explosion (not a spoiler – it happens early on), it's that virtually every character in the movie now has super-human powers of some sort. From Shia LaBoeuf to Cate Blanchett, no one can just walk down a fucking street anymore. No, Lucas needs to force them all to channel Jason Bourne on a cocaine bender, kicking ass and taking names in every flippin' scene. After a while, it just gets exhausting to watch, and not in a good way.

And now a word about plot. No, I won't spoil anything, pumpkins. I will merely say that Dr. Jones is a archeologist who obviously specializes in Mediterranean antiquity. Lost arks and last crusades are firmly rooted in the Judeo-Christian mythos. The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is in the Americas. I'm just sayin, is all. Indy is awesome, but c'mon, we all know what professors are like. Lucas seems to have reverted to a kindergarten level of understanding of what college is. As if when you get a degree, the universe suddenly downloads an unending mass of data into your head, making you able to answer any question Alex Trebek might throw your way.

Hey, remember when I was talking about how necessity is the mother of invention? Funny thing, Son of Rambow embodies that idiom perfectly. Set in Britain in the early '80s, Son of Rambow tells the story of two schoolboys, one a bully with an unusual family life, and the other a shy Christian fundamentalist with another unusual family life. When the two watch a bootleg of Rambo, it sparks a crazy succession of events that center around their attempt to film their own version of the movie – not unlike Be Kind Rewind, but better executed and with more British insanity.

Much of this film is in the telling, so I won't go into the plot. But the way that these two little fictional filmmakers go about filming is such a marked contrast to Lucas's "spare no expense" style that it bears discussion. With a budget of nothing, the Rambow boys are compelled to devise ever-more clever props and film techniques to get the story told – and the actual filmmakers of Rambow use many of the very same methods, such as a hand-drawn dream sequence that took my breath away, not only because it was so visually unexpected, but because it fit the story perfectly. Well, of course that's what his dream would look like, I thought. That's the mark of talent. When you add in the funny, touching story, you get a very fine movie to watch. It doesn't take money, George. It takes love.

Son of Rambow: whee!
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Bottomless Bank Account: meh.

I in no way wish to suggest that Jason Bourne would use cocaine. He's clearly too bad ass.