Be Kind Rewind (2008)

Erase/Rewind
Be Kind Rewind

Starring Jack Black, Mos Def and Danny Glover

Directed by Michel Gondry

Be Kind Rewind, written and directed by Oscar-winning director, Michel Gondry is just the third major film release by the kooky Frenchman who's long associated as the longtime director of countless wacky Bjork videos. Rewind is slightly different from Gondry's first two features. While Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind and Science of Sleep dealt more with the romantic relationship of two, Rewind expands its reach to a greater level.

Mos Def and Jack Black plays a pair of best friends, Mike and Jerry. Mike works for Mr Fletcher (Danny Glover) at his video store located in a building under great disrepair. Jerry convinces Mike to sabotage the power plant as he's convinced that their minds are adversely affected by it. A mishap happens and Jerry becomes magnetised. As Mr Fletcher leaves to prepare for an overhaul of his old video store (which he has lied to Mike about it being the birth place of a legendary jazz singer) in order to save it. The magentised Jerry causes all the video tapes to be erased. Hence, in a bid to save the business, the duo sets out to recreate all the videos by 'swedeing' them - re-shooting their own versions, only to be embraced with unexpected popularity from the townsfolk.

While such a storyline easily borders on irrelevance and slapstick, the charm lies in Gondry's master. The way Mike and Jerry remakes the movies including the final production shows basic but great movie-making. The cast is excellent as the comedic chemistry of Jack Black and Mos Def is perfect. The supporting cast of Danny Glover, Mia Farrow and even Sigourney Weaver (in a cameo) lends extra sweetness to the movie.

Be Kind Rewind is not just all laughs but it is about relationship, humility, irony and sarcasm and Gondry succeeds without being cloyingly sentimental. (A)

a what picture? could you rewind the script?
This i was hoping would be an excellent comedy and i went to see it. it was funny in parts but not totally what i was hoping for the script or something was missing. it was'nt a bad bomb of a picture like some are, but it really could've used something special to make it a great picture. to me this picture is great for saturday afternoons and when you want to burn some time, other than that it did'nt make the mark nice message though.

A tribute to creative movie-making
Like others, I didn't really enjoy this as much as some of Gondry's other films but that doesn't mean this is a bad or overly disappointing movie. In fact, it's an above average one. It is definitely the funniest Gondry film I've seen and has a warm-hearted Capra-esque feel to it which may seem ridiculous and "cheesy" to some, but it works within the broader context of the film. Jack Black's character is funny but is also, thankfully, more subdued than usual which allows Mos Def's brilliant performance to come to the forefront. If for nothing else, you have to see this for the "sweded" version of Ghostbusters. I think it caused serious damage to my cheek muscles from laughing so hard.