Be Kind Rewind is one of those films that was on my radar when it first hit production but then quickly disappeared. I remember reading that Michel Gondry was making the film with Jack Black and Mos Def, and then nothing. Silence seemed to surround the project for a period of time and I eventually forgot about it. Recently, I stumbled over the trailer and my interest was peaked again.
My wife and I had some free time yesterday so we figured we would catch a movie. BKR happened to be playing at a theater here so we saw it instead of No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood, two films I've been wanting to see for a while as well.
BKR follows a young man named Mike, played by Mos Def. Mike works in a small VHS rental / thrift shop in New Jersey. The store is ran by Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover) who has been like a father to Mike. The store is in financial trouble and is close to being torn down.
Fletcher goes on a sort of a recon mission to find out what he can do to overhaul his store and get up to date with the DVD market. While he's gone, he leaves Mike in charge. During all of this, Mike's best friend, Jerry (Jack Black), gets magnetized while trying to sabotage the local powerplant which he believes is running his life. His magnetization erases all of the videos in the shop.
What are Jerry and Mike to do? They decide to go out and reshoot each of the films themselves, in an attempt to fool the customers. They figure that the people haven't already seen the films anyway, so why not? This leads to some hilarious scenes of the guys re-making Ghostbusters, Robocop, Driving Miss Daisy, 2001, etc.
First let me say that I enjoyed the film. I felt that it was quite funny, and is a fantastic love letter to VHS, and just cinema in general. That being said, I did feel the film to be a bit uneven. Plots are brought up and then sat by the wayside, never to be seen again. The acting in the film is a little off and seems quite forced at some points despite having some great talent in the film. Overall, I enjoyed it, I just felt that it could have been so much better.
Gondry's directing style here is much more muted than normal as well. If you aren't familiar with the name, he's the same director of films such as Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Dave Chappele's Block Party and the sadly overlooked Science Of Sleep. He still has a few great inventive shots in this film, but it seemed much more tuned down than his previous films.
Go check it out if the idea sounds interesting. I certainly enjoyed it but for most, I'd have to say that it's a rental. It's not a film that is going down in the books as a classic but it's one that I'll pick up as soon as it hits DVD.
7.5/10
