credit: www.impawards.com
Director:
Michel Gondry
Cast:
Jack Black……….Jerry
Mos Def……….Mike
Danny Glover……….Mr. Fletcher
Mia Farrow……….Miss Falewicz
Paul Dinello……….Mr. Rooney
Sigourney Weaver……….Ms. Lawson
There is one word to describe director Michel Gondry’s latest film, Be Kind Rewind: joyous. This is a joyous film that infects you with its joy and leaves you smiling, happy and glad you saw the movie. Now I’m not going to say it’s the greatest film of the year or anything like that, but if you don’t enjoy the film you’re crazy.
This film has a familiar plot. Mr. Fletcher (Glover) owns a tiny video rental store (VHS not DVD), whose sole employee Mike (Def) is a little slow but has good intentions. Mr. Fletcher learns that his building isn’t up to code; unless he can raise the money to fix it up it will be condemned.
Then the film’s magic kicks in. Mike’s best friend Jerry (Black), for reasons best left unexplained, unintentionally erases all the tapes in the store. When a regular customer comes in wanting to rent Ghostbusters for the first time, Mike and Jerry decide to remake the film themselves hoping she won’t notice the difference. Soon their video shop has lines around the block and they are taking requests for what they call “sweded” films.
To explain why this film is so joyous would be to ruin the ending, but Be Kind Rewind at its core is about loving film, community and Fats Waller. The film also happens to be wonderfully hilarious. It’s a smart comedy with some fantastic physical comedy moments as well. The sweded films that Mike, Jerry and crew make are uproarious even if one hasn’t seen the film they’re doing (although it does help).
This is also the most straightforward film Gondry has made. Known for his unique cinematic style that made Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and The Science Of Sleep so memorable, Gondry manages to reel in his style, using it sparsely only to emphasize certain moments. In fact, this maybe the only film that contains a montage sequence that is one long masterfully choreographed shot.
If you have a love of film then you will love this film. It’s a simply story filled with more magic than a Harry Potter film.
