 
Be Kind Rewind
a.k.a. “Be Kind, Rewind” MPAA Rating:
 for some sexual referencesReviewed by: Spencer Schumacher Better than Average
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience:
Teens, Adults
Genre:
Comedy
Length:
1. hr 41 min.
Year of Release:
2008
USA Release:
February 22, 2008 (wide)
“You name it, we shoot it.” In 2004, director Michel Gondrey cast Jim Carrey to blur the lines of love and memory in his enigmatic film “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”. Now Gondrey has cast Jack Black as loveable loser Jerry in his latest film “Be Kind Rewind.” Jerry’s best friend Mike (Mos Def) is put in charge of a local New Jersey video store (by which the film finds its name), when the video store owner (Danny Glover) leaves town to settle a legal dispute. After a power plant accident, Jerry unknowingly becomes magnetized and erases all the VHS tapes in the store. With Mr. Fletcher, the owner, out of town, Mike and Jerry have to find a way to replace all the video tapes that contain nothing but snow patterns. When a local patron (Mia Farrow) comes in and insists on renting “Ghost Busters,” the two decide to take advantage of the fact that she hasn’t seen it, by shooting their own home version of the film. With Mike directing and Jerry taking the leading roles, the two go on to start their own franchise of remaking some of Hollywood’s most famous hits as well as reworking independent films. As they venture into more romantic fare, it becomes apparent they need a leading lady, so they elicit the help of a neighborhood girl, Alma (Melonie Diaz, “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints”) to fill in the feminine rolls. While Mike and Jerry try to keep the store open, Mr. Fletcher is spying on the mega-conglomerate store that offers DVDs and is driving Be Kind Rewind out of business. The David vs. Goliath story is a common theme throughout the movie. Mr. Fletcher is also battling with the city to keep the store in its historic location, while the city would rather tear it down to make room for a block of luxury, high-rise condos. A former award-winning music video and TV commercial director, Gondrey uses stop motion and highly stylized visual techniques to achieve a very unique style to his films. This style may be hard for some to embrace, however, his low tech special effects work perfectly in illustrating Jerry and Mike’s attempts to recreate some of Tinseltown’s golden epics. Of Gondrey’s films, this one is probably the most user accessible, as it doesn’t have the space-time continuum plot of “…Eternal Sunshine…” nor the mature subject matter of “The Science of Sleep.” I noticed very little objectionable material. The only violence is when Jerry accidentally electrocutes himself, and this is done in a cartoon-like manner, and the fight scenes from the films that Jerry and Mike try to replicate, such as “Ghost Busters” and “Rush Hour 2”. There are only two instances of profanity, as the characters purposely choose to use colorful euphemisms rather than the typical four letter epithets that are used in most Hollywood pictures. One instance is when Jerry utters the ‘b’ word while quoting lines from the Bill Murray phantom-vanquishing character in “Ghost Busters.” There are parts of this film that are exceptionally funny, particularly when Mike and Jerry are using a minimal budget to recreate scenes from movies that most viewers will be familiar with. The performances are good, particularly the supporting roles of Diaz and Mos Def. Jack Black’s typical over the top performance works well in the recreations. Though there is nothing overtly offensive for Christian audiences, Gondrey is a unique filmmaker that works in a visual style that may not appeal to a general audience. Fans of Gondrey will no doubt enjoy this vehicle, that allows his characters to recreate these classic films. If you are willing to give your cinematic palette a little taste of something different, then you might be pleasantly surprised by “Be Kind Rewind”.   Positive
Positive - Be kind, rewind was probably the most original movie I have seen in a long time. While it is quirky like the clean scripted Napoleon Dynamite, it does have an 'S' , and a 'B' word like the review above along with a bit of toilet humor(bodily functions). Mos Def does use the name of our Lord once, but it is under his breath. Danny Glover talks of some sexually realted exploits including a comment on a body part... other than that? This movie is clean. One other thing that may be objectionable would be the way some characters mislead customers. This is also underplayed and no one is effected negatively. It is very nice to see movies like this can be made. Positive - This was a cute movie that had a lot of laughs. I can only remember 2 mild curse words, and several places where there should have been a cuss word, by usually movie standards, and there wasn't one. For instance, 'what the ----, was turned into 'what the duck?' That was sweet, and Mos Def had a very enduring roll. Jack Black was just Jack Black and that can wear thin if you've seen him in several movies. My husband felt the plot was too weak to give this a thumb's up and too over the top in its humor to be believable. I thought there was enough laughs and I thought the plot was kind and thoughtful to all, that I would give it a thumb's up. I would have taken my 12 year old daughter and still might except she may not get all the references to these older movies(ie. Driving Miss Daisy, Ghostbusters, Space Odyssey 2001) an also there was one seen with Danny Glover where he used some vulgar terms to boast of sexual exploits he had when he was young. That was the only offensive part of the movie that I noticed. Positive - Overall, this movie was a fun way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon. Being a fan of Jack Black, a friend and I decided to give this film a whirl and were pleased with the result. The foul language was slim to none, and there was no nudity, which is hard to find these days. For parents, I would say this movie is appropriate for kids 14+. A lot of the younger crowd wouldn't understand half of the humor or be able to follow the plot well. I do have to admit there wasn't a lot of character development, and it seemed to move rather fast, but in the end it's one of those movies where you just go and kinda have that in mind to begin with. Thumbs up in my book. Negative
Negative - I love Jack Black, but this movie stunk. It was irritately stupid and I wish I got my money back. It was so boring my teenagers were asking me ,'when can we leave!' |
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