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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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21 - 40 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

The community-produced version of Fats Waller's story leads to a block film party in what may be the most touching ending of Gondry's films.

Full Review Source: Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada) | comment Comment
03/01/08
Brian Gibson
Brian Gibson
Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)

Let's not go to the videotape.

Full Review Source: San Antonio Express-News | comment Comment
03/01/08
Larry Ratliff
Larry Ratliff
San Antonio Express-News

Be Kind Rewind may be the least ambitious of Gondry's films but is also his most fun.

Full Review Source: Colorado Springs Gazette | comment Comment
02/28/08
Brandon Fibbs
Brandon Fibbs
Colorado Springs Gazette

It falls short in the character development category, relying on a whimsical vibe, the charm of its actors, and ceaselessly inventive movie re-creations to get by.

Full Review Source: Scene-Stealers.com | comment Comment
02/27/08
Eric Melin
Eric Melin
Scene-Stealers.com

Gondry has merely used the plot to celebrate community, friendship, love, creativity, making something out of nothing and the power of myth to sometimes be greater than truth.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment 1 Comment
02/27/08
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

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

One of the most bizarre concepts to hit the big screen unspools erratically in "Be Kind Rewind," an outrageous comedy that offers some clever scenes and more than a few laughs.

Full Review Source: Quad City Times (Davenport, IA) | comment Comment
02/24/08
Linda Cook
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

The trouble with this movie about amateur film-makers is that the entire film comes across as amateurish.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment 1 Comment
02/24/08
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

Nothing can save this overambitious enterprise embarked upon by a couple of idiots, full of sound and fury but ultimately signifying nothing.

Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment Comment
02/24/08
Kam Williams
Kam Williams
NewsBlaze

Be Kind Rewind, like last year's great Sundance film Son of Rambow, is a celebration of the power of film and the joy of the movies; not just great art, but also great trash.

Full Review Source: Cinematical | comment Comment
02/23/08
James Rocchi
James Rocchi
Cinematical

The greatest idea for a comedy ever... Please understand that this is a Michel Gondry, so even as commercial as it wants to be, it's still an art film.

Full Review Source: Rotten Tomatoes | comment Comment
02/22/08
Fred Topel
Fred Topel
Rotten Tomatoes

It's hard to get too cranky about a movie that, at heart, is a tribute to the joy of making things with your friends.

Full Review Source: Slate | comment Comment
02/22/08
Dana Stevens
Dana Stevens
Slate

...quickly devolves into quirky boredom.

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

It truly inhabits the do-it-yourself spirit of independent filmmakers coloring outside the lines drawn by Hollywood.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
02/22/08
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

Alternately so whacked out as to be inaccessible, and so sweet and naïve as to be irresistible.

Full Review Source: Film Blather | comment Comment
02/22/08
Eugene Novikov
Eugene Novikov
Film Blather

100 minutes of sweet-natured idiocy.

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

Will leave you with a huge grin on your face.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
02/22/08
Sun Online

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]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

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
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
21 - 40 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
all

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
More...

June 16, 2008: RT on DVD: 70 More Minutes of The Incredible Hulk on Blu-Ray??
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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...

February 29, 2008: UPDATED: UK Box Office Breakdown: Odeon Snubs Rambo
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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