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 | movie premiere | videotape | scene during end credits | vomiting | 

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Taglines:

The biggest movies of all time just got a little make over.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sexual references

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michel Gondry insisted on using the inhabitants of Passaic, New Jersey, where the film was shot, and is set, as extras, and some as prominent actors throughout the film. The scene where the inhabitants get to see "Fats Waller was Born in Passaic" (the biopic, and only non-Sweded production) playing on the video store window, actually featured the inhabitants watching the movie they had worked long and hard on, for the very first time.

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Goofs

During the re-enactment of Rush Hour 2's roof fight, bystanders can be seen watching from a neighboring building.

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Quotes

Jerry: That's the lamest excuse I've ever heard! That's totally non-sequitary!

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Connections

References The Lawnmower Man (1992)

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Soundtracks

Mr. Fletcher's Song
Written by Paul Barman, Jean-Michel Bernard and Michel Gondry
Published by Partizan Music
Performed by Jean-Michel Bernard and Moe Holmes

User Reviews

A mixed bag

For the first half hour, Be Kind Rewind is a fairly dull little comedy. It improves markedly when the central premise kicks in, in which two dopes wind up filming shoestring remakes of famous movies. Then it becomes very enjoyable in a silly sort of way, and sustains that for much of the next hour.

The last half hour of the movie relies less on humor and more on the good feeling the characters have engendered during the film. This last part is kind of nice, but it's not all that funny and I never felt strongly enough about the characters to really connect with the final part.

In the end, I feel the problem with Be Kind Rewind is (and this is not something one says often) that it is not a one-joke movie. Because the one joke is really funny, and the problem is all that stuff meant to make that one joke part of a genial movie that attempts to say something about community and making films for love and that sort of thing.

It's a very well-intentioned, sometimes very amusing movie, but I found it way too uneven.

Details

Country:

UK France USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 February 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Be Kind Rewind

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,100,000, 24 February 2008

Gross USA:

$11,175,164

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$30,579,406

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