Be Kind Rewind (2008)

Two bumbling store clerks inadvertently erase the footage from all of the tapes in their video rental store. In order to keep the business running, they re-shoot every film in the store with their own camera, with a budget of zero dollars.

Director:

Michel Gondry

Writer:

Michel Gondry

Stars:

Jack Black, Yasiin Bey, Danny Glover

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Black	...	Jerry
Yasiin Bey	...	Mike (as Mos Def)
Danny Glover	...	Mr. Fletcher
Mia Farrow	...	Miss Falewicz
Melonie Diaz	...	Alma
Irv Gooch	...	Wilson
Chandler Parker	...	Craig
Arjay Smith	...	Manny
Quinton Aaron	...	Q
Gio Perez	...	Randy
Basia Rosas	...	Andrea
Tomasz Soltys	...	Carl
Marcus Carl Franklin	...	Kid 1
Blake Hightower	...	Kid 2
Amir Ali Said	...	Kid 3

Storyline

In Passaic, NJ, Elroy Fletcher runs a video store in a condemned building he claims was the birthplace of Fats Waller. Fletcher goes on a Waller centennial trip, leaving his foster son Mike in charge of the store. Mike's peculiar friend Jerry tries to sabotage a power station and nearly electrocutes himself, getting magnetized in the process. He inadvertently erases every tape in the store. Mike and Jerry hatch an plan to hide the disaster by making a homemade "Ghostbusters" to rent to a woman whom Fletcher will be phoning to check on them. Soon, with help, their homemade versions of films develop a cult following. Will this new business save the store and the building? What about Fats?

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Plot Keywords:

video store | friend | sabotage | store clerk | power plant | 

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Taglines:

You name it, we shoot it

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sexual references

Details

Country:

UK France USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 February 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Soyez sympas, rembobinez

Filming Locations:

New Jersey Aviation Museum, Teterboro International Airport, Teterboro, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,388,146 (UK) (22 February 2008)

Gross:

$11,169,531 (USA) (25 April 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Partizan Films, Partizan

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sigourney Weaver stars as Ms. Lawson. She also stars as Dana Barrett in the film Ghostbusters, which was the first film to be re-made by the characters in Be Kind Rewind.

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Goofs

When Mr Fletcher sets off on his trip, the train leaves going back the way it came, even though Passaic does not appear to be a terminal.

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Quotes

Jerry: My brain's been paranized!

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Connections

References The Constant Gardener (2005)

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Soundtracks

Your Feets Too Big
Written by Ada Benson and Fred Fisher
Published by Morley Music Co. and Sony/ATV Tunes LLC (ASCAP)
Performed by Jean-Michel Bernard

User Reviews

Funny and endearing movie from Gondry

The trailer really said it all about this film, and the film delivers everything it promises! What a great concept and how great a story we got from Gondry this time. Very accessible (unlike Science of Sleep) and entertaining from beginning to end. Jack Black and Mos Def play their parts well and the aforementioned is actually funny in this one, unlike a lot of his recent work. At the core of it all, Be Kind Rewind tells a great story about how you don't really need high-tech equipment to make movies. Who needs film-school when you've got your friends and a cheap camera?

I really enjoyed this film.