Be Kind Rewind

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.

I missed this film at Sundance, caught it as soon as possible, and I wasn't disappointed. Despite being privy to the exhaustive fine-tuning of an indie film with an improvised feel, watching "Be Kind" I could absolutely believe it came together as quickly and spontaneously as the snippets of "sweded" films. This was part of its charm and I think Gondry's intention.

All the actors were engaging, and genuine heartfelt emotion - most definitely by the surprising, naturally pitch-perfect Mos Def - transcended the dialog, plot points and general wackiness.

The Fats Waller thread was just random enough and very skillfully and satisfyingly woven into the story from beginning to end. This and many other details - including touches like lovely Mia Farrow's curiosity about supernatural films and Sigourney Weaver's brief take-charge turn - convinced me that Gondry put quite a bit of thought and skill into perfecting the film's endearing awkwardness. It might not be to everybody's taste, but I think it was a great idea, executed and seasoned just right.

'Be Kind Rewind' has already become one of my favourite films of the year. It's funny. It's charming. It's nostalgic. It's awkward. It's unique and it's moving. The entrance of DVDs to our lives have lead to the rapid extinction of video cassettes but does one remember the days of renting, collecting and watching those big tapes? Rewinding them and forwarding them? Something small but one that I find fascinating. While 'Be Kind Rewind' pays respect to that generation, it's also a wonderful tribute to film-making in general. All the classic movies and blockbusters this film refers to are some of the most memorable movies that played during the VHS days and, in a way, 'Be Kind Rewind' is a superb homage to those films. Just watch all the sweded 'refilming' of, for example, 'Driving Miss Daisy' with Danny Glover and Mia Farrow, 'Ghostbusters' and 'Rush Hour 2' with Jack Black and Mos Def...and so many more hilarious surprises. 'Be Kind Rewind' also explores what it is about cinema that fascinate the ordinary man.

Gondry's writing is just as great as his direction. Everything fits together excellently. The comedy and drama blend smoothly. Michel Gondry's screenplay is impeccable. The dialogues are laugh out loud and never out of place. The characters are genuinely heartwarming, goofy and lovable.

The performances are heartfelt and fantastic. A wacky Jack Black, an endearing Mia Farrow (who's a science fiction fan), a very impressive Mos Def (I was very impressed by his comic timing), a humbly naive Danny Glover, a vivacious Melonie Diaz, Sigourney Weaver as an inspector in charge (with a touch of comedy) and many more talented actors make a terrific ensemble.

Gondry has tackled a lot of themes like a strong sense of community, people's love for movies, people being accustomed to old technology (as a result to which they sometimes have difficulty moving on to more updated sources), reviving loved artists who have vanished into oblivion and the overall sense of doing something great together (like the last movie on Fat Waller's life). He tells the story skillfully. I liked that it ended on a bittersweet note but somewhat ambiguously. I was having so much fun and laughing out loud so many times that I didn't even care if it bothered other people.

Many people seem to have trashed this movie because it wasn't like 'Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind'. I'd like to tell those people to get over it. How can people even begin to compare too totally different films and then call one of them trash for not being like the other? I love both movies and to me, with 'Be Kind Rewind' Gondry proves to be a versatile director and my appreciation for him as a filmmaker has only increased.

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.

This is a silly but harmless fun piece of fluff, guaranteed to put some smiles on your face and give you somewhat of a feel-good feeling when it's over. I'm sure that was the intent, and very little more. It wasn't made to astound anyone or provide huge laughs. Yet, it has a lot of charm and subtle humor.

It's a ludicrous story, so you just can't take anything seriously. The premise is unique: two guys converting a dying video rental store into a success by taking blank tapes of famous movies and making their own 20-minute versions! The new "movies" are so bad, they're good and the neighborhood starts making requests and renting the new "sweded" movies like hotcakes. Goofy? Sure. Tons of plot holes? You bet......but a nice movie.

The more films you know, beginning with "Ghostbusters," the more you'll enjoy this as the guys make these cheap knock-offs on budgets of about a hundred bucks! In addition, Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover and Mia Farrow were all fun to watch.

It's no award-winner, but you could do a lot worse.