Review of Be Kind Rewind

The trailers for Be Kind Rewind make the movie look like a non-stop laugh fest filled with quirky, slapstick humor as the unlikely team of Jack Black and Mos Def find themselves in outrageous situations, trying to re-enact various blockbuster films. The previews depict the movie as having the same kind of hilarious charm as a poorly-made home video - something you might have filmed with your friends and watched immediately afterward, gasping with laughter. There are moments of this pure humor in Be Kind Rewind, but most of them were covered in the trailers.

That’s not to say that the movie is bad or boring. There is simply more drama in the plot than was really appropriate. The film is, on the surface, about Jerry (Black) and Mike (Mos Def) recreating a slew of videos for a rental store after Jerry magnetically erases all the originals. But there is another parallel plot about the video store and upstairs apartment, both owned by Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover), being demolished to make way for a modern housing complex. Then there is a plot about Mike wanting to gain the approval of Mr. Fletcher, his possibly adoptive father. There is another plot about Fats Waller, a plot about an elderly lady, Miss Falewicz (Mia Farrow), being bullied by her nephew, a plot about finding a way to unite the community in which the video store is located, and a plot about Jerry being afraid of radiation from a nearby power plant.

Overall, the film is pleasant, well-paced, and manages more than a few genuinely funny moments, but, typical of director Michel Gondry, there are too many ideas, each backed by too many high hopes, for the movie to stay completely grounded. There is also a scene, perplexing for the genre, in which Jack Black is suspended upside-down by Ghostbusters-style electric currents (only it’s not during the remake of Ghostbusters). However, Gondry has come as close as he ever may to making a straightforward, audience-pleasing film. Idiosyncrasies that may have otherwise alienated viewers are easy to overlook. Be Kind Rewind is worth it even for the small amount of hilarity that goes beyond the trailers and its well-meaning, if slightly askew, dramatic subplots prove to be cliché but harmless.