Be Kind Rewind

A junkyard worker named Jerry (Jack Black) believes the microwaves from a power plant are affecting his health. But when his attempt to blow up the transformer backfires, he ends up magnetizing himself. This inadvertently erases all of the videotapes in a run-down video store called Be Kind Rewind where his best friend (Mos Def) works. To save the business, the pair decides to remake the films, and their 20-minute low-budget knockoffs become the hit of the neighbourhood.

The silly premise seems merely an excuse to create spoofs of popular movies such as one might see on MadTV, but the opportunity for true gut-busting comedy is wasted because we see only a smattering of shots from their efforts. Among the parodied films are Ghostbusters, Rush Hour 2, Robocop, Driving Miss Daisy, The Lion King, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Men in Black.

Yet, all of this is merely a prelude to the real story. When the building is threatened with demolition, the entire community rallies together to create their own documentary film about a legendary jazz musician supposedly born on the premises.

Written and directed by Michel Gondry, France’s answer to the loopy Tim Burton, Be Kind Rewind is a whimsical and affectionate tribute to movies and offers some clever imagery. However, the film suffers from a slow introduction and lengthy tirades that seem ad-libbed. Further, the VHS theme is about ten years too late.

Although it tries to evoke the small-town values of Norman Rockwell, Be Kind Rewind paints a portrait of a nation that has fallen into decay. Set in the dumpy town of Passaic, New Jersey, which is full of people with “nowhere to go”, the residents are portrayed as dimwitted and down-trodden. (Jerry’s belief that the power plant is melting his brain may be a much wider phenomenon than anyone realizes.)

Black is in his element, hamming his way through the slapstick humour with manic aplomb, while Def is adequate as the straight-man trying to keep his composure as the situation grows ever more desperate. The film also stars the delightful Melonie Diaz as the guys’ love interest, Danny Glover as the store’s weary owner, Mia Farrow as its most loyal customer, and Sigourney Weaver as an officious Hollywood lawyer who orders the fake films destroyed due to copyright infringement.

Much more than the generic comedy it might appear to be, Be Kind Rewind is a tender story about old-fashioned values such as honesty, friendship, and helping your fellow man. But it tries to be too much and, as a result, ends up disjointed and deficient in purpose. Rating: 5 out of 10.