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Movies / On DVD / Be Kind Rewind
Be Kind Rewind

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Be Kind Rewind (2008)

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Reviews Counted:124

Fresh:81

Rotten:43

Average Rating:6.3/10

Australian Rating: PG [See Full Rating] Mild coarse language and sexual references

Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins

Genre: Comedies

Australian Theatrical Release:
Mar 20, 2008 Wide

US Box Office: $11,028,439

Synopsis: Music-video-director-turned-auteur Michel Gondry continues to charm with his low-tech offering, BE KIND REWIND. Set in dreary Passaic, New Jersey, the comedy centers on two of the town's residents:... Music-video-director-turned-auteur Michel Gondry continues to charm with his low-tech offering, BE KIND REWIND. Set in dreary Passaic, New Jersey, the comedy centers on two of the town's residents: trouble-making Jerry (Jack Black) and well-meaning Mike (Mos Def). Mike works in a video store in an age where the VHS is long dead, but the store's owner, Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover), doesn't seem to be in any hurry to change. When Mr. Fletcher leaves town for a trip, he entrusts his store to Mike with one piece of advice: don't let Jerry in the store. But after some mischief, Jerry returns to the store in a strange state. Not only is he weirder than usual, but he's also magnetized, which causes the entire store's stock to be erased. In order to keep the struggling business afloat, Mike and Jerry begin remaking the films in the store one by one. Their hilariously low-budget versions of films such as GHOSTBUSTERS and RUSH HOUR 2 soon begin to draw attention and business to the store, but that creates a whole new set of problems for the pair. Though Gondry's three previous fiction films--HUMAN NATURE, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, and THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP--were all essentially love stories, BE KIND REWIND captures another kind of romance. Both the writer-director and his characters are in love with the cinematic medium itself, and their devotion shows. BE KIND REWIND doesn't reach the heights of ETERNAL SUNSHINE, but it doesn't seem to be aiming for that genius. This is simply a hilarious comedy, fun for film fans of all stripes, which celebrates the sheer joy of watching and making films. [More]

Starring: Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow

Starring: Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow, Melonie Diaz, Chandler Parker, Irv Gooch, Arjay Smith, Marcus Carl Franklin

Director: Michel Gondry

Director: Michel Gondry
Producer: Michel Gondry, Julie Fong, Georges Bermann
Composer: Jean Michel Bernard
Studio: New Line Cinema

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Reviews for Be Kind Rewind

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

The remake/parody sequences are outstanding, but Black’s all-over-the-place mania and Mos Def’s bland orphan hero don’t quite tie the rest of the picture together. Still, it has heart.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine Australasia | comment Comment
03/20/08
Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Empire Magazine Australasia
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

And the film ought to be funny, with Mike and Jerry recreating those films as home movies. But somehow it’s not, the laughs are very thin on the ground.

Full Review Source: At the Movies (Australia) | comment 2 Comments
03/19/08
Margaret Pomeranz
Margaret Pomeranz
At the Movies (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Brilliant ideas dance on the high side of Creative Street, but Michel Gondry's outlandish premise doesn't stretch far enough to go the distance.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
03/16/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's one of those rare experiences that remind us not exactly why we love movies, but how we love them.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
02/21/08
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

100 minutes of sweet-natured idiocy.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment Comment
02/22/08
Nigel Andrews
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times

Quirky Jack Black comedy is sweet and silly.

Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | comment Comment
02/21/08
Sandie Angulo Chen
Sandie Angulo Chen
Common Sense Media

Only crazy rubber-faced Jack Black could pull off such a spoofy, overly-eager slapdash of a project.

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
02/19/08
Jeanne Aufmuth
Jeanne Aufmuth
Palo Alto Weekly

... a kind of communal folk art spin on industrialized moviemaking and an affectionate tribute to our relationship to the movies of our lives.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
02/21/08
Sean Axmaker
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Arguably the biggest problem with Be Kind Rewind is that Gondry never stops experimenting, even when the experimentation works against the movie's best interests.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
02/20/08
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

It may be full of madcap surrealism and clever-clever meta-cinematic touches, but it is also an unfashionably good-natured film with real heart. Oddball, endearing, and very, very funny...

Full Review Source: Eye for Film | comment Comment
02/16/08
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Eye for Film

Hollywood showbiz is about the now and the new, so there is something subversive about Gondry pitching his tent in the wasteground of obsolescence behind the gleaming edifice of modernity.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
02/22/08
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A charming picture about filmmaking all dressed up as a comedy. Exaggerated and wonderfully silly, the movie concerns hilarious amateur movie-making -- but sneaks in a message about community and the transformative power of art.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
02/22/08
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

At best it's a collection of very good ideas in search of a framework, and at worst a dramatically stale film based on a terribly messy screenplay.

Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
02/26/08
Tim Brayton
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy

The premise of Be Kind Rewind is pure Michel Gondry. The end result is anything but.

Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | comment 3 Comments
03/16/08
Matt Brunson
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing

A comedy hobbled by a preposterous plot and a phony finale.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment 6 Comments
02/20/08
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

A kid's movie for adults, a charming notion for a time of postmodern ennui.

Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
02/21/08
Peter Canavese
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews

An ode to finding one's creative side and the joys of being able to share one's creations with others.

Full Review Source: Window to the Movies | comment Comment
07/11/08
Jeffrey Chen
Jeffrey Chen
Window to the Movies

Eminently likable. And there's something about Gondry's persistent nostalgia that feels contemporary, or opportune, at least.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
02/22/08
Carina Chocano
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

...quickly devolves into quirky boredom.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment 1 Comment
02/22/08
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

A scruffy, likeable little comedy, even though it's not actually very funny or involving.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
02/11/08
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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Latest News for Be Kind Rewind

June 25, 2008: A people's cinema rough cut heart so squarely in the right place over in Passaic as opposed to Hollywood, that it's pretty much hard to resist. Opens in new window
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A slow week at the box office allowed Jason Statham's The Bank Job to sneak into first place in the UK charts. Meanwhile Rambo, Cloverfield and Alvin and the Chipmunks all... More...

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Jumper holds on to the number one spot at the UK box office, but only because a dispute between Sony and Odeon kept the film of the cinema chain's 100+ screens. More...

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