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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:29

Fresh:15

Rotten:14

Average Rating:5.9/10

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 - 12 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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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)
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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
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A film that's sweet and well-intentioned, but with a heart where its brain should be.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
02/22/08
David Gritten
David Gritten
Guardian [UK]
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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]
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Takes a clever concept and cobbles a weak story around it.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment 1 Comment
02/22/08
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today
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It’s inviting, undemanding and altogether wonderful. You’ll want to see it again, or at least Swede it yourself.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
02/22/08
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
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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
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I felt positive and genial while watching it, but I didn't break out in paroxysms of laughter. It's the kind of amusing film you can wait to see on DVD. I wonder if it will come out on VHS?

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment 1 Comment
02/22/08
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
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Such a far-fetched shaggy-dog yarn borders on the patronizing. But Gondry's belief in community-based, handmade, DIY culture is infectious, and his cry against big-box homogenization (fewer choices, more copies) is a noble one.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
02/21/08
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
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There’s just enough whimsical good humour to carry Be Kind Rewind, but Michel Gondry’s latest does tend to keep crashing into ‘oh come on now, what were you thinking?’ self-indulgence.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
02/20/08
Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Empire Magazine
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Most of Be Kind Rewind feels as silly and undisciplined as the mini-movies cooked up by its hapless heroes.

Full Review Source: New Yorker | comment Comment
02/19/08
Anthony Lane
Anthony Lane
New Yorker
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Gondry would seem to have intended Be Kind Rewind more as a generous, sweet-tempered comic fable. But the souffle never rises.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
01/22/08
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Variety
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1 - 12 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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