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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5455 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-06-30
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 97 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
A daffy, adorable, and very funny celebration of DIY spirit, Be Kind Rewind stars Mos Def (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) as Mike, a clerk at a failing video store in a rundown New Jersey neighborhood. When his friend Jerry (Jack Black), who's been magnetised in a power station accident, wipes all of the videotapes blank, the two of them decide to recreate the movies themselves rather than face the store's owner (Danny Glover).

The pure charm of Be Kind Rewind can't be captured in that spare plot synopsis. The blend of the movie's great cast (which also includes Mia Farrow, Melonie Diaz of American Son, and Sigourney Weaver) and pitch-perfect writing and direction from writer-director Michel Gondry (director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, writer-director of The Science of Sleep) culminates in a truly delightful movie--sweet without being saccharine, richly comic without irony or sarcasm (which, given the presence of Black, is surprising), sentimental without losing sight of the hard edges of life. Mos Def turns in a standout performance, deeply sympathetic without a moment of grandstanding. An absolutely winning film. --Bret Fetzer

Synopsis
Music-video-director-turned-auteur Michel Gondry continues to charm with the low-tech offering, BE KIND REWIND. Set in dreary Passaic, New Jersey, the comedy centres on two of the town's residents: trouble-making Jerry (Jack Black) and well-meaning Mike (Mos Def). Mike works in a video store in an age where the VHS is long dead, but the store's owner, Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover), doesn't seem to be in any hurry to change. When Mr. Fletcher leaves town for a trip, he entrusts his store to Mike with one piece of advice: don't let Jerry in the store. But after some mischief, Jerry returns to the store in a strange state. Not only is he weirder than usual, but he's also magnetised, which causes the entire store's stock to be erased. In order to keep the struggling business afloat, Mike and Jerry begin remaking the films in the store one by one. Their hilariously low-budget versions of films such as GHOSTBUSTERS and RUSH HOUR 2 soon begin to draw attention and business to the store, but that creates a whole new set of problems for the pair.
Though Gondry's three previous fiction films--HUMAN NATURE, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, and THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP--were all essentially love stories, BE KIND REWIND captures another kind of romance. Both the writer-director and his characters are in love with the cinematic medium itself, and their devotion shows. This is simply a hilarious comedy, fun for film fans of all types, which celebrates the sheer joy of watching and making films.

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Customer Reviews

Something lacking
The films starts off well, with much promise of quirkiness and laughs and unusual storyline, but somehow about half way through it turns into a sentimental tribute to the likes of "cinema paradiso" or "it's a wonderful life". Altogether there seemed to be a lack of conviction to it despite the good acting and star cast. Compared to Gondry's previous films, this movie feels like it has something missing and could have been much better.

Get Sweded
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!"

not one thing or the other
There have been some pretty vicious reviews for this film posted on here. I would imagine that this is on the back of the slightly misleading trailers/advertisements for this film.

The trailers sell this as a all out comedy about a couple of goofy guys `remaking' Hollywood classics with no money after Jack Black's magnetised body wipes all the videos in their video store.

This does happen in the film, for about 30 minutes.

A lot of other stuff occurs as well which is perhaps less crowd pleasing. The tapes don't get wiped for about 30 minutes, the start is slow build up and getting to know the characters, the last half hour is a wish fulfilment story as the community come together for a special project. All well and good, but not really what was advertised.

I agree that the film is very far from perfect. Flaws abound in tone and performance and script. Some neat ideas are underdeveloped; others are mentioned then totally forgotten.

The lead performances are...frustrating. Jack Black is a capable actor and, on form, a top notch comedian - in this film his characterisation is all over the place, as if he does not know which film he is in scene to scene. Mos Def gives a nice, laconic performance but all too often the `mumbles' just equate to missed dialogue. Thank heavens for Danny Glover - giving a grounded and very real performance. No other characters really get that much development. (Also, Sigourney Weaver's cameo is perplexing - what was the point? It was an utterly unmemorable character)

On the plus side, there are some killer gags in here, especially as they `Swede' the movies. The sets are very effective and the end does have a lump in the throat vibe without overdoing the saccharine.

I rented rather than bought and I'm happy with that. Glad I watched it but am equally content to not watch it again.

I really do wish Jack Black would rein it in a bit more often though (just saw Year One....shudder!) he is so good when he does.