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.
Be Kind Rewind (2008)
Tomatometer
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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
Reviews for Be Kind Rewind
Be Kind Rewind may be the least ambitious of Gondry's films but is also his most fun.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The trouble with this movie about amateur film-makers is that the entire film comes across as amateurish.
Nothing can save this overambitious enterprise embarked upon by a couple of idiots, full of sound and fury but ultimately signifying nothing.
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.
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.
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.
It truly inhabits the do-it-yourself spirit of independent filmmakers coloring outside the lines drawn by Hollywood.
Alternately so whacked out as to be inaccessible, and so sweet and naïve as to be irresistible.
A film that's sweet and well-intentioned, but with a heart where its brain should be.
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.
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. ![]()
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June 16, 2008:
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March 05, 2008:
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February 29, 2008:
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