Review

Review Date: 24-February-08
Spoiler Rating: Low
Juju Judgment: Just OK

Be Kind Rewind (2008)

My impulse is to be kind to the latest offering from French music video director-turned filmmaker Michel Gondry. Not only does "Be Kind Rewind" spring from one of the best premises in recent memory, it also made me laugh out loud, which is a rare occurrence for a verbally rather than visually humored person who finds comic stereotypes distasteful. That Gondry does not fully capitalize on the premise cannot diminish its charm. Here it is: in an exurb of New York, a man named Mike (Mos Def) and his surrogate father (Danny Glover) sell sundries and rent VHS tapes out of a building targeted for demolition. The older man goes away for a week leaving the younger in charge. Although Mike takes his responsibility very seriously, the worst happens when his kooky friend Jerry (Jack Black) accidentally and freakishly erases all the video tapes. Faced with an important customer (Mia Farrow) who wants to rent "Ghostbusters," the guys decide to remake the movie themselves in the hopes that she doesn't notice. (Okay, so a little suspension of belief is required.) Their slapdash version becomes an instant local hit and spawns a large selection of home-grown remakes from "Robocop" to "2001" to "Boogie Nights." Creativity flourishes, neighbors come together, and much needed money rolls in. It is "Barbershop" meets YouTube by way of Frank Capra.

All of the scenes that depict shooting the remakes are gems. The ridiculousness of the "artists" is as notable as their ingenuity in recreating props and perspectives with virtually no resources. In this the guys are assisted by a dry cleaner's drudge (Melonie Diaz) who fills the role of token female and marginal love interest. As with the other characters, she feels like the shadow of a person who might be encountered in life and has certainly been encountered at the cineplex. There isn't enough depth to anything in "Be Kind Rewind" beyond the movies within the movie (and it is actually their lack of depth that makes them entertaining). Mos Def gets by with an honest face reflecting the underdog's struggle, but Black is both annoying and unconvincing. Glover's errand and obsession with an old-time jazz singer are particularly awkward. If the people were more persuasive and the superfluous shaved to make room for more acts of reinvention, this picture would have been worth rewinding again and again. But in truth it is more of a one-time curiosity.

Copyright © 2008 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.