Be Kind Rewind

VHS is pretty much dead now, but it has one characteristic that "Be Kind Rewind" revolves around: expose it to magnetism, and it dies.

So you can probably guess what happens in Michel Gondry's fourth movie, and his first foray into all-out comedy. It has some plot holes and a rather bizarre premise, but there's a warm, funny little heart buried in the kooky antics and wild remakes of every movie from "Ghostbusters" to "Lord of the Rings."

Be Kind Rewind is an ancient video store, and supposedly the birthplace of unknown jazz legend Fats Waller. It's also due to be razed for a new block of condos -- so store owner Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover) goes on a scouting trip for a week, leaving his conscientious clerk Mike (Mos Def) in charge.

Unfortunately local weirdo Jerry (Jack Black) tries to destroy a local power plant, because he believes it's controlling his brain. Instead he gets fried, and his body becomes a walking electromagnet -- which they only discover after he's wandered through the store, erasing all the old tapes. Even worse, a regular customer (Mia Farrow) wants "Ghostbusters" by that evening.

So Mike and Jerry hurriedly shoot their OWN version of the movie, with the help of Alma (Melonie Diaz) and soon they find that their "Sweded" movies have a growing fanbase, and they are town celebrities. But the demolition deadline is approaching, and Hollywood lawyers are threatening them for copyright infringement -- will the town's new devotion to these quirky "Sweding" moviemakers help them stay.

Michel Gondry's movies are always set in "real life," but with a few drops of the unreal -- memory erasure, waking surrealist dreams, that kind of thing. And even though "Be Kind Rewind" is set in a grimy, shabby New Jersey town, it has the same delightfully unreal quality -- it's a genial buddy comedy where literally anything can happen.

I'll admit, there are some moments that don't entirely work like the awkward "this town is a swamp" exchange, and a couple plot holes (where did the infringement lawyers go?). And that whole magnetized body fluids thing was just gross.

But it has plenty of physical and verbal comedy ("Iloveyou Iloveyou we'relovers kissme!"), ranging from train hijacks to a break-in at a DVD rental store. And the entertaining movie becomes sidesplitting when our heroes start shooting a ghastly no-budget "Ghostbusters" with fishing rods, tinsel, and bags of goo. Also "Robocop," "2001," "Rush Hour 2," "Driving Miss Daisy" and several others -- all with no budget, borrowed costumes, cardboard sets, and a cast of rank amateurs.

Gondry is obviously having a roaring good time lampooning Hollywood blockbusters. But he also injects some deeper currents into what could have been a one-joke movie -- there's a bittersweet subplot about the possibility of losing the store that has brought a community together. Yeah, it's supposed to tug at the heartstrings, but it really does work.

One particularly nice touch is that the movie ends -- and is punctuated by -- scenes of a very low-budget, old-looking biopic of Fats Waller. Initially it just seems like another conceit, but it turns out to be very important to the plot.

Black is a delight as the insane Jerry, brimming with manic energy -- in one scene, he encases himself in aluminum foil. Mos Def's Mike is more pleasant and low-key as the responsible boy-next-door type, and Danny Glover is outstanding as the paternal, gravel-voiced Mr. Fletcher. Diaz is also quite solid as a vague love interest/codirector/costar; and keep an eye out for Sigourney Weaver in a small cameo.

Michel Gondry's fourth full-length film is a big-hearted, mildly bittersweet little comedy, with the slightly unreal quality you expect from his films. I want the Sweded "Be Kind Rewind!"

`Be Kind Rewind' is a film that looked great in the trailers and then failed to live up to it's promise. Following a VHS video rental shop that has all it's stock wiped and then re-records the films in their own unique style, this film was set up for plenty of laughs that didn't deliver. Jack Black was pretty nondescript this time around and from funny turns in films like `School of Rock' it was a disappointment to see him tread water and under perform here. The ending fizzled out and left you with no feel good feeling or indeed any strong feeling either way. I don't mind a Hollywood cop out, cheesy, happy ending in the right context and genre, but this film didn't even deliver that! This is a comedy film with few laughs and is one you could quite easily miss without worrying about it. Only a film for huge fans of Jack Black.

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Jerry (Black) accidently erases all the tapes in Mike's (Def) video store and the pair decide to recreate the films themselves whilst Mike's boss is away.

When dealing with media transformations the hot topic of the last few years has been Blu-Ray. After a long battle Blu-Ray has become the most accustomed form of high definition viewing for TV and film entertainment and with this now established end, we are reminded here of where the magic of home entertainment began, with VHS.

Starting off with petty preaching vandalism and a poor showing from the two leads Def and Black, we have a basic storyline of two guys struggling growing up with boring lives in a boring neighbourhood.

Though the inclination to fast forward or turn off may be tempting it is worth staying on as once Black gets `magnetized' in a ridiculous sabotage attempt does the plot pick up. We have friction built up between the characters as they try to find solutions to the blank videos and once the concept of making their own versions of the listed films crops up does the comedy and interest really kick up a gear.

The parodies of classics such as Ghostbusters and 2001: A Space Odyssey generates the most laughs. The costume designs and set pieces for these mimics are as wonderful as the dialogue. If worried about revealing spoilers for parodied films you need not worry as none are given other than The Lion King. To understand the point of the parody seeing the targets would make for better understanding as with Ghostbusters but this isn't necessary as the concept of copying and the fun they have doing it should entertain throughout.

After the fun flowing segment of filming other films we dive into a political edge of the society when the legendary shop is in a war to be demolished, which leads into the owner contemplating this transformation of VHS to DVD. The scripting actually makes this feel sad as the effort put in between the friends and community created a strong bond.

Black and Def make up for their boring opening with a calm partnership till the end that shows the battles of tough love and rivalry. Though there aren't many laughs flowing from the lead duo, there is a swift realistic feeling and generosity about what they are doing that makes Be Kind Rewind easy and enjoyable viewing.

What is surprising as well is that this 2008 picture is that not everything is picture perfect as is the case with most modern comedies that throw in relationships, targets and everything is wonderful sickly endings. This is very different which therefore makes it worth while.

8.5/10