Will leave you with a huge grin on your face.
Be Kind Rewind (2008)
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Reviews Counted:124
Fresh:81
Rotten:43
Average Rating:6.3/10
Theatrical Release:22-02-2008
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
Reviews for Be Kind Rewind
A film that's sweet and well-intentioned, but with a heart where its brain should be.
The magnitude of Gondry’s visual ingenuity is consistently jaw-dropping.
There’s just enough whimsical good humour to carry Be Kind Rewind, but Michel Gondry’s latest does tend to keep crashing into ‘oh come on now, what were you thinking?’ self-indulgence.
Moments of Gondry inspiration make Be Kind Rewind worth your time, even if you decide to wait for the video.
Michel Gondry is a visionary of sorts, but he needs a talented writer to add emotional depth to his child-like creativity if he is going to reach the heights of Eternal Sunshine again.
It takes a special talent to wring so much warm, humane comedy out of such a screwy premise. But the real triumph is how Gondry uses it to champion no-budget indie filmmaking, salute cinema’s unifying properties and thumb his nose at the Hollywood system.
Hollywood showbiz is about the now and the new, so there is something subversive about Gondry pitching his tent in the wasteground of obsolescence behind the gleaming edifice of modernity.
A scruffy, likeable little comedy, even though it's not actually very funny or involving.
The director has attempted to construct quite a complex little film here, but only parts of this delicate concoction work effectively. The movie feels like a strange, lightweight piece of ephemeral fluff.
It’s inviting, undemanding and altogether wonderful. You’ll want to see it again, or at least Swede it yourself.
Michel Gondry's latest cinematic breakthrough Be Kind Rewind grants passage into his magical imagination and proves yet again he's one of today's artistic giants.
Innovative auteur Michel Gondry's latest curio is either boring or brilliantly boring.
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.
It may be full of madcap surrealism and clever-clever meta-cinematic touches, but it is also an unfashionably good-natured film with real heart. Oddball, endearing, and very, very funny...
Be Kind Rewind explores the meaning of originality, but it’s also a fable about art and social change.
Once the movie starts finding its focus it becomes a very unique experience
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. ![]()
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March 05, 2008:
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February 29, 2008:
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