What a great start to the year for British cinema, this delightfully cute film is basically This is England meets Be Kind Rewind. The story is that Will is a young boy with an extremely religious mother (think Kelly McGillis in Witness and you're on the right track - she won't even let poor Will watch television) who befriends school rogue Lee Carter in the 1980s. They get into a scrape together and Will "takes the blame" but then for "payback" enlists Will as the stuntman in the film Lee is making for a competition run by the BBC.
The shooting of the "film" (which comes to Will in a dream - which already is the pace-setter for scene of the year - and was inspired by his watching a pirated copy of First Blood at Lee's house) is consistently funny, not quite as hilarious as the Gondry films in Be Kind Rewind, but it's not far off. There is also a wonderful subplot about a visiting gaggle of French exchange-students and Didier, who is too cool for school and has girls quite literally queueing up, such is the immense power of his desirability.
Is it predictable? Yes, it is at times. Does that matter? Not a jot. Their friendship is nicely developed and as Will enlists Didier to co-star in the film, coupled with the natural interest that the casting of such a sex-symbol has on the school, it drives a wedge between him and Lee - it was Lee's idea in the first place! AND IT'S HIS CAMERA!
So yes, not a revelatory cinematic experience, but an absolutely lovely one, both in terms of the 80s nostalgia it accurately evokes (through costume, products and of course, slang - "skills!") coupled the inherent cuteness of the boys and their film. Very entertaining, sweet as it gets and a very fun watch, I'd highly recommend it.