Be Kind Rewind: Review

In a way that brings to mind such works as Cinema Paradiso, Michel Gondry’s latest offering is a joyous celebration of what film can do and ultimately what it can’t. Be Kind Rewind, the newest creation from the most inventive filmmaker working today, may not be his best work and in some respects, it may be his worst. However, this speaks not so much to the quality of Rewind as it does to the greatness of his previous works (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep and Dave Chappelle’s Block Party) and what Gondry has here is another seemingly effortless mixture of sentimentality and whimsy that is consistently entertaining and heartfelt. Buoyed by a charismatic cast and wonderful visuals, Be Kind Rewind hit the hearts of all those who ever took the family video camera and made a “movie”.

Jerry (Jack Black) and Mike (Mos Def) live in Passaic, NJ where Mike works at a small thrift/video store, owned by Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover), called Be Kind Rewind. Jerry is something of a destructive personality, who deeply believes that the power plant located next to his camper is somehow manipulating the minds of the good people of the neighborhood. After an ill advised attempt to sabotage the power plant in which he is exposed to a massive magnetic field, thus magnetizing Jerry (which includes one of the many memorable visual gags in the film), he arrives at the store the next day, only to demagnetize every VHS tape in the store.

Unfortunately for Mr. Fletcher, who is out of town at what he tells Mike is a Fats Waller convention, his store only carries VHS. To try and hide the fact that every tape is destroyed, Mike and Jerry set off on remaking every movie in the store, via good old fashioned do-it-yourself filmmaking. They explain the process as “Sweding”, that is the importing of tapes from Sweden, hence the slight differences that one may see when watching it. Luckily for them, the neighborhood takes a liking to their work and off we go. If this seems far-fetched, it is but one must enter a Gondry film with a suspension of disbelief or else nothing will be gained. Gondry’s aim is not to create realistic depictions of life but rather, using outlandish setups, create in depth explorations of real human emotion. It is here that he succeeds wildly. With Eternal Sunshine and The Science of Sleep, he explored the nature of romantic love with a bittersweet melancholy that was equally heartfelt and inventive. With Dave Chappelle’s Block Party, he focused his lens on the meaning of community and he continues with that theme in Be Kind Rewind. Where he looked at the power of music in the former, in the latter, he looks at the power of film and in many respects, he displays an understanding of the power of cinema not seen since the late 80’s with Tornatore’s Cinema Paradiso.

As someone who frequently spent his free time in middle and high schools making movies on an old Sony camcorder, the sweding sequences were wonderful glimpses back to what it felt like to be making those short movies. What they lacked in subtlety and skill, they made up for in raw energy and a genuine love for the process. It isn’t much different in Mike and Jerry’s creations and when their versions of Boyz ‘N the Hood or 2001: A Space Odyssey are shown, I couldn’t help but reminisce of watching our own creations. They were our labors of love and whether my friends and I realized it at the time, the creation of a film was forcing us to collaborate to get something on that magnetic strip. For Mike and Jerry, they are the same emotions, until the process is complicated with news that the shop is going to close and be demolished to make way for luxury condominiums. Then, it doesn’t become just Mike and Jerry’s interest but the larger communities and it is here that the film truly takes off.

Mos Def, as Mike, is wonderful. He possesses an effortless charisma that is affable and charming. He serves as a perfect foil for Black’s manic, at times grating, performance, balancing out the film wonderfully. Equally as charming is Melonie Diaz, as Alma, the duo’s sidekick. Together, the three form the core of the film and without their work, much of Gondry’s intentions would have been lost somewhere in the journey from script to screen.

Gondry’s direction is a mixture of slapstick, melancholy and visual originality that all come together in a style that’s really all his own. Few directors in recent memory has been as consistently inventive and distinctive in their initial efforts but it seems like Gondry is truly one of a kind, an artist with an avant-guard eye but a mainstream heart. Even at its strangest moments, The Science of Sleep, easily his least accessible work, is emotionally grounded in moments that most will be able to identify with. Be Kind Rewind doesn’t come close to the bizarre sequences in its predecessor but it doesn’t lose a bit of its heart. It may be sentimental, but when its executed so joyfully, who can complain? I supposed that Miss Falewicz (Mia Farrow), one of the neighborhood elder states(wo)men, puts it best: “Here’s to movies with heart!”. I couldn’t agree more.