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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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81 - 100 (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
 
 

Cute but a little empty, Be Kind Remind boasts an original premise without the clarity of writing and character dimension to back it up.

Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment Comment
02/21/08
Dustin Putman
Dustin Putman
DustinPutman.com

This charming little fairy tale is more than a sweet and heart-warming story; it is a thoughtful exploration of the power of stories, why we are enthralled byhearing and watching them and why we are even more captivated by telling them.

Full Review Source: Beliefnet | comment Comment
02/21/08
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Beliefnet

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

... 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

The level of foolishness here is simply too high, and the execution so slapdash that the result doesn't seem so much a parody of amateurishness as an example of it.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
02/21/08
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

Innovative auteur Michel Gondry's latest curio is either boring or brilliantly boring.

Full Review Source: I.E. Weekly | comment Comment
02/21/08
Amy Nicholson
Amy Nicholson
I.E. Weekly

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

Be Kind Rewind may exist in a hazy, dreamy time warp, but its artistic impulses are strictly YouTube.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
02/21/08
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune

Even though its thin conceit strains and stumbles into being, Gondry's movie somehow ingratiates itself to the dauntless dreamer that lives within each of us.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
02/21/08
Gene Seymour
Gene Seymour
Newsday

Gondry, as writer and director, can't stop the creative helium from leaking out of his cinematic balloon.

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
02/21/08
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone

Apparently intends to tell a story about people's relationships with movies but winds up saying films are impersonal just because they look professional and don't star YOU.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment Comment
02/21/08
Matt Pais
Matt Pais
Metromix.com

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
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The greatest mystery is how a movie peddling the bliss of moviemaking is absent any hint of joy.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
02/21/08
Robert Wilonsky
Robert Wilonsky
L.A. Weekly

A genuinely original independent film, though one that requires patience and tolerance of the writer-director's style.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Observer | comment Comment
02/21/08
Lawrence Toppman
Lawrence Toppman
Charlotte Observer

Gondry is the first director since School of Rock's Richard Linklater to fully capture Black's truculent charm and actually make it - charming.

Full Review Source: FilmStew.com | comment Comment
02/21/08
Pam Grady
Pam Grady
FilmStew.com

Perhaps Gondry realized the sum wasn't going to be greater than its parts and just left it at this: two halves, one more intriguing than the other, that don't add up to a coherent whole.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
02/21/08
Bill Goodykoontz
Bill Goodykoontz
Arizona Republic

Gondry invites us to rewind to a time before corporate domination, while failing to realize that 'corporate' and 'professional' are not synonyms.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
02/21/08
Scott Renshaw
Scott Renshaw
Orlando Weekly

Be Kind Rewind not only reminds us why we love film so damn much, it pays tribute to those films that may have had a hand in it.

Full Review Source: Bronsonfive | comment Comment
02/21/08
Michael Ferraro
Michael Ferraro
Bronsonfive

...makes you nostalgic for the early days of backyard moviemaking, before digital video cameras and desktop editing software turned everyone into mini-Spielbergs.

Full Review Source: Sun Publications (Chicago, IL) | comment Comment
02/21/08
Josh Larsen
Josh Larsen
Sun Publications (Chicago, IL)

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
 
 
81 - 100 (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??
This week in DVD news, that long-awaited Kill Bill double-volume set may finally be on its way and Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier promises enough leftover Hulk... More...

March 05, 2008: UK Box Office Breakdown: Slow Week Sees Bank Job Claim No.1
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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