Summary:
Be Kind Rewind, though often obnoxiously unfocused, promises a nice blend of comedic flavor with subtle ingenuity- and delivers.

Synopsis:
In the small town of Passiac, New Jersey, the aging and dilapidated city inches ever closer to the brink of total inner-city ruin. When a proposal comes forth to build a strip of modern condominiums in the stead of the local lower-income video store, Mr. Fletcher (Glover) gets an ultimatum: restore the building’s infrastructure to legal standards or be evicted. To make matters worse, Jerry (Jack Black), recently magnetized in a bizarre accident, erases all of the VHS tapes- rendering Be Kind Rewind video store, inventory-free.

In order to save the store from financial ruin, Mr. Fletcher’s son, Mike (Mos Def) is aided by Jerry in recreating mainstream motion pictures with their own style of no-budget creativeness. These “Sweded” films have no limitations in scope and quickly become popular in this inner-city of hope-less souls looking for escapism in their impoverished lives.

Review:
Be Kind Rewind is Michel Gondry’s latest attempt at creative cinematic surrealism. After Eternal Sunshine’s critical success, Gondry still attempts to escape the overwhelming shadow that is Charlie Kaufman to prove once again that he is able to depict such a well-received world of imagination without Kaufman’s writing. Now, I loved the Science of Sleep. It was both touching and inventive, but the burden of the film fell heavily on the actors. Mexican performer, Gael Garcia Bernal, was able to manipulate each scene to fit his on-screen persona as well as match the overall theme of the film. Therefore, Be Kind Rewind represents Michel Gondry’s endeavor at mainstream success with a similar theme, though using different methods.

Be Kind Rewind’s story is simple. Mike and Jerry re-shoot their library of classic VHS tapes for the public. This story becomes a bit more complex when muddled with many subplots and useless asides that all becomes tied together with a subplot of a confused landmark debate regarding legendary musician, Fats Waller. The story is so unfocused that by the finale of the film, the audience is left disinterested with the Fats Waller story and generally annoyed with the confusion.

The acting is above par, especially when you consider that the majority of the extras and side characters were all local Passaic residents. Jack Black, the weakest actor of the bunch, tends to go overboard with a few of his physical comedic routines, but much like Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine, he generally shows much restraint to perform his character’s persona. Mos Def is spot on as a socially-inept dreamer who gets way over his head. The less prominent roles were performed well, most notably Melonie Diaz who plays the new employee of the store.

The only flaws in the characters were the characters themselves, as there was almost no characterization throughout the film. The audience becomes detached with Mike and Jerry as they know nothing about them. With this in mind, it makes sense that whenever a plot turn is in motion, the audience is either left confused as to the characters’ intentions or disinterested in the development.

Although many negative remarks can be made about the characters, the only character that truly stays in the audience’s hearts and minds are the films. These “Sweded” films that Jerry and Mike create are the real show-stealer and capture most of the attention, laughter and creativity of the film. Each one becomes more ambitious and exciting as you are left with a truly anti-climactic “last film” and the desire to see more of Jerry and Mike’s work.

When the credits are rolling and you have a moment to soak in what you’ve seen and wonder if you enjoyed it, you won’t be disappointed. For as much as the film is unfocused and undisciplined, it is also a feel-good fun movie that brings on the laughs aplenty.  In the end, Michele Gondry did not succeed at creating another brilliant story that will touch the hearts of many, but he was able to bring a small but enjoyable dose of his incredible talent to a mass-scale audience. Kudos.

The DVD, released Tuesday, June 17^th from New Line Cinema, is a well formed yet entirely vanilla encasing for the film. The only feature being a small “making of” documentary, which takes a look at the town of Passaic and the film’s impact on the citizens. The DVD is completely worth the nice transfer and interesting documentary, which should be treated as a companion piece,  but deserves a future Special Edition treatment. Possibly with a few stand alone Sweded films as extras.

GOD KING GRADE: (C)   ★★★★★