Movie Review: Be Kind Rewind

Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep) directs Be Kind Rewind, the 2008 comedy. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2008 and was later shown at the Berlin International Film Festival. Gondry, who is noted for his inventive visual style and his manipulation of design, is a nice fit to direct this quirky film, although some audiences may be confused by the notion that it is not a straightforward comedy by any means. Most of the hype directed towards Be Kind Rewind has to do with the characters remaking various hit films, but this is only part of the puzzle in what is actually a complex and often strange film.

Mos Def stars as Mike, who works in a declining VHS rental store in Passaic, New Jersey. The store’s owner, Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover), frequently tells the story that legendary jazz musician Fats Waller was born in the store. Mike’s best friend, Jerry (Jack Black), hangs out with Mike frequently at the store. Jerry is known for his crackpot theories about nuclear power and microwaves. Fletcher’s shop faces extinction, as DVDs are obviously the primary way in which people rent movies. The store is expected to be pulled, probably for a Starbucks or a Blockbuster outlet.

Fletcher decides to take matters into his own hands and heads off on a trip to investigate the competition, hoping to gain some tips on how to run his business more effectively. He puts Mike in charge of the store while he’s gone, with explicit instructions to not let Jerry anywhere near anything. Jerry asks Mike for his help to sabotage the power plant he despises and, during the adventure, Jerry is somehow electrified and magnetized. When Jerry heads back to see Mike at the shop the following day, his magnetism erases all of the VHS tapes. To help cover this up, Mike and Jerry eventually decide to film their own versions of the movies. The homemade movies become a hit and business begins to boom.

The performances in the film are rather charming and funny, especially when Mos Def begins to impersonate various movie stars and his nervous energy turns him into a sort of Woody Allen archetype. Black is just okay in this, however, but his character is odd enough to be engaging on some level. When the re-shooting of the films takes place, Black heads into overdrive as usual and his frenetic energy is very hit or miss.

Article Author: Jordan Richardson

Jordan Richardson is a Canadian freelance writer and maple syrup enthusiast. His film reviews can be found at the Canadian Cinephile's Reviews and his music reviews are located at the Canadian Audiophile's Reviews and News. Mr. …

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