Be Kind Rewind (2008)

Be Kind Rewind follows Mike (Mos Def) who works at a VHS rental store, Be Kind Rewind, for boss Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover). When Mr. Fletcher Leaves for certain amount of time. Mike's friend Jerry (Jack Black) who was recently in a electronic mishap, has become magnetic enters the store, un-knowingly erasing all the tapes. Now to save the business they set out to re-create movies.

Be Kind Rewind is directed by Michel Gondry, whose former work includes Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and Science Of Sleep. from other reviews and news One of the main critisms of the film is that the re-makes are the best bits with the rest falling short. Going into this film i hoped that was wrong and i would disagree but i don't. The re-creations are very funny and fun. In fact thats one of the main points, Gondry is known for his visual flare and off-kilt approach. In the re-make scenes thats where this is most evident, and the rest of the film is well...pretty plain. It's formulaic and linear in it's narrative, verging on clichéd. In fact if i hadn't known this was a Gondry film, was shown it then asked who i thought directed it, i would probably never of said Gondry. There were elements of the story i didn't like, the business being attempted to be closed down by TWO seperate groups of people was fairly uneeded. However it was mainly that it was very plain in comparrison to Science of Sleep or Eternal Sunshine.

It's not all bad. As i mentioned the re-makes are brilliant. The props used including a playmat with a cartoon style town on it to represent height and distance was hillarious, a front of a toy truck to represent King Kong's nose, and a green bag for slimer from ghostbusters add some hillarity and charm. Little moments such as cuts in the footage, showing mos def as slimer then cutting to show the same place with no one there then cut again to the next scene, displaying the rough / amature style of there films. Jack Black adds his usual sense of manic comedy. The best in the performances and scenes come in the subtle moments, such as Jack Blacks "For your consideration" cards. Certain scenes such as filming at night and stealing the projection scene are hillarious and add a lot of charm to the film.

There is a plot running through of an old jazz legend who lived in the city. The story seemed pretty pointless and kind of took the film into an overally mushy approach. The ending was pretty cliched in terms of the films tone, but i did enjoy the last moments, it seemed that Gondry was really tributing the power of film (and in many ways silent cinema if you take it from the crowds point of view)

All in all, its not as daring or visually interesting as science of sleep or eternal sunshine. The characters are fairly plain as is the narrative. However the re-makes, chemistry between Mos Def & Jack Black and little mmoents in the acting help this film and make for a charming film. It's pretty average but it's intention is harmless and if you can overlook some stale aspects of the film , its an enjoyable feel good film.