A feel-good family flick that doesn't pander to the younger members of the equation.

After the colossal flop that was the 2005 adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, writer/director Garth Jennings redeems himself with Son of Rambow, a decidedly sweet and small-scale ode to the delights of youthful friendship and imagination. Set in England in the 1980s, Son of Rambow tells the story of two of the unlikeliest friends -- imaginative little Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner), isolated from friends and mainstream culture by his mother's involvement in an ultra-conservative religious sect that bans things like music and TV, and the misunderstood school bully Lee Carter (Will Poulter). When Will catches a glimpse of Sylvester Stallone's Rambo: First Blood at Lee's house one day, he is a boy transformed. The drawings that cover his ever-present Bible suddenly take on new life as he declares himself the 'Son of Rambo,' and as such becomes the star of the movie Lee is making to enter into a young filmmaker contest for the BBC.

Son of Rambow is getting a lot of heat as an audience favorite at Sundance, among other things, and with good reason. Jennings perfectly captures everything that's good (and bad) about being kids experiencing a true friendship for the first time, the exhilaration of being on a mission, and the dangerous fun of childhood adventure. The casting of the kids is pitch perfect -- with Milner and Poulter shouldering the considerable burden of the film with respectively doe-eyed and snot-nosed aplomb. The stunts are great, the story is heart-warming and compelling, and of course, Jennings (as he should) in the fun of the '80s genre with just enough of the clothes and music (what a soundtrack!) to make you smile.

As a general rule, I'm not a fan of kids, their movies, or Rambo, but this movie absolutely won me over. And -- I'm going to say it -- if you can stomach the idea of your kids hearing a (not too terrible) curse word or two, this could very well be a good movie for the whole family.

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