2008 Advisor
jmdobies
Austin, TX
Genial, Screwy Comedy with a Premise That's Ten Years Too Late
3 star rating

into Independent Films, Movie guru, a man, Radio Host, a cult film connoisseur, married

JUN
23
2008

Be Kind Rewind — 

Be Kind Rewind is a sweet little comedy directed by Michael Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) from a script he must have written sometime around 1998. Jack Black and Mos Def head a strong cast that also includes Danny Glover and Mia Farrow.

The story revolves around the dilapidated video store of the title, which deals exclusively in VHS rentals. By the time this movie hit theaters in 2007, most films were no longer available in the VHS format.

So part of the entire premise of the film is a hopeless anachronism, that Glover's character would be unaware of how major video rental chains function, and that the DVD supplanted VHS as the dominant rental medium for the last decade, and that major video rental chains are now getting crushed by Netflix.

The rest of the premise concerns Black's character becoming magnetized, then erasing all of the titles at the video store, so that he and Def are forced to remake all of the movies in "sweded" versions. If you are able to suspend disbelief and go with the flow, the movie is enjoyable, with some genuinely funny bits, and even some heart-tugging moments.

But I can't help but think this film would have done better had it been made ten years ago.

Last edited on Jun 23, 2008



I_thumb_up Be Kind Rewind is recommended by jmdobies

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I_comment_shdw24 Comments about jmdobies’s Review

 


GigiandAdonai wrote on Nov 10, 2008 at 6:22PM

Never heard of it and I now I know not to bother.

SpokaneMan wrote on Jun 23, 2008 at 11:54AM

You nailed it when you said the film was presented a little too late.