The TV Addict 

Even though BE KIND REWIND takes place in a real place (Passaic, N.J.), in the film it’s really a manic silly fairytale land of sorts where cops don’t really do much if they catch you painting graffiti on an underpass wall, where a store that rents VHS copies of movies released no later than the late 90s at a dollar a pop stays in business somehow, and where Jack Black plays a mechanic.

The basic story is that when Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover) – the owner of the above mentioned video store – leaves town for a week to check out what this crazy DVD fad is all about, he leaves his ward, Mike (Mos Def), in charge of the store, with one warning: “Keep Jerry out.” Of course keeping any character played by Jack Black (essentially reprising his role from HIGH FIDELITY here) away is pretty much near impossible. Sure enough, during a bungled attempt at sabotaging a local power plant (he does so because of threatening microwaves that will kill us all, or something), things go awry and Jerry ends up electrocuted. Instead of getting killed, he somehow gets magnetized in a sequence that seems like it’s out of the origin part of a superhero movie. Needless to say, the next time Jerry comes into the video store, all the tapes get ruined.

This is where the concept of the film kicks in. To replace all the destroyed tapes, Jerry and Mike hatch a scheme to re-create films like GHOSTBUSTERS, LION KING, DRIVING MISS DAISY, RUSH HOUR 2, to name a few. Ridiculous? Of course, but again, it’s all part of the fairy tale world we’re dealing with here. From this point on the movie starts playing with its concept like a child in a sandbox. Jack Black naturally comes into his element here, but thankfully there is the always quiet and commanding presence of Mos Def to keep things reigned in a bit. The recreations are staged quite cleverly, no surprise given that we’re dealing with Michael Gondry here (who, incidentally, has loads of creative potential, but seems to falter on capitalizing it ever since ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND). Many of them are also quiet funny, but ultimately it all becomes too drawn out and a bit too silly for its own good. It’s entertaining and fun to watch, sure, but with not much else of consequence going on in the plot – besides predictable progress versus tradition story elements that would be right at home in a Frank Capra movie – it ends up stagnating.

That’s not to say it isn’t well meaning. Despite the absurdity of it all, it’s essentially a love letter to creativity, as well as passionate and inventive low-budget, independent filmmaking. It’s that string that keeps you going until the film finally emerges from wallowing in its own silliness, and reveals its true heart, and the message it was building towards. Admittedly, the switch in tone feels a bit off, but regardless, BE KIND REWIND ends quite poignantly with the reminder that film – like a lot of art – is not simply a medium for entertainment (though it is that), but a vessel of creative ambition and expression, not just personal, but communal. Sure, even that notion has unfortunately become something of a fairy tale (at least in Hollywood), but being reminded that film does potentially have that power is what saves this film from being forgotten the moment you step out of the theatre.