Film shines a spotlight on eccentric characters in a tight-knit community that bond over the fun and excitement of remaking Hollywood blockbusters.
“Be Kind Rewind” explores how people love watching movies and like to see parts of their own lives displayed on the big screen.
“Be Kind Rewind” provides the perfect light-hearted romp for anyone that ever watched a movie and imagined how they would act out their favorite scenes if given the chance.
(Listen to a podcast review of Be Kind Rewind here.)
The premise of the movie has two of the primary characters, a pair of underachiever buddies, re-shooting well-known Hollywood films initially to cover up a mistake. But eventually their process of “Sweding” popular films such as “Ghostbusters”, “Robocop”, “Driving Miss Daisy” and “Rush Hour 2” for local video store customers on demand reveals the fascination most people have with movie making and that imitation is indeed the highest form of flattery
“Be Kind Rewind” opens with a group of eccentric characters connected by a corner thrift shop and VHS rental store run by Mr. Fletcher, Danny Glover playing the curmudgeon with a heart. Mos Def’s Mike is an amiable young man who works at the store, which shares its name with the movie, and idolizes Mr. Fletcher as a father figure. Mr. Fletcher shares local history and recounts the story of Fats Waller, a famed Jazz musician supposedly born in the building housing the low-rent video shop. Mike’s oddball best friend Jerry, played by Jack Black at his kooky best, is a local auto mechanic and regular at the store who believes the power plant nearby is polluting his brain with radiation.
Despite the camaraderie among the main characters, all is not well. Mr. Fletcher is facing eviction from his store because of an urban renewal project, unbeknownst to Mike and Jerry whose lives center around this neighborhood in Passaic, N.J. A few events coincide to kick Mike and Jerry’s movie-making adventure into high gear. Mr. Fletcher puts Mike in charge of the store as he leaves to spy on his competition, a big chain DVD rental store. Mike takes his instruction to keep Jerry out of the store very seriously. Unfortunately, the timing synchs up with Jerry’s attempt to sabotage the power plant that should have resulted in his death, but instead turns him into a human magnet. And now that Jerry has magnetized himself, the one rule to “keep Jerry out” seems more critical as Jerry is capable of erasing all the video tapes in the store.
Yet Jerry’s magnetic blunder coupled with his unbridled imagination ultimately brings the characters and community together. Mia Farrow’s Miss Falewicz is sent by Mr. Fletcher to check in on the boys and the store, and decides to rent a movie. With all the tapes erased, Mike and Jerry are forced to scramble for a solution. Jerry’s idea to reshoot the film, the story of which he knows cold, persuades Mike that with one day’s work shooting a 20 minute version of “Ghostbusters” they will be able to keep Miss Falewicz satisfied and Mr. Fletcher unaware of the movie erasing mishap. Though Miss Falewicz is none the wiser about the faux film, her foster children are a bit savvier and call the two novice filmmakers on their home-made film. But the surprise is these tough-talking teens enjoyed it and want more of these “Sweded” films.
In an obvious twist, the pair — along with Alma (Melonie Diaz) recruited to prevent Jerry from having to kiss his male mechanic employee Wilson for a scene — devise a plan to raise money to save the condemned building by charging $20 for every movie remake. The group figures they can raise enough money to do the needed repairs and continue on with their love of film making — recruiting more and more people to star in the many interpretations of some of Hollywood’s most famous titles.
Director Michel Gondry, of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” fame, sets the tone of this appealing film with a low-key approach to presenting simple characters with genuine intentions. Reportedly he passed the cameras over to the actors while filming, encouraging them to ad lib and enabling the movie to convey the exhilaration of creating the scene as they go. Like children in the best possible way, the characters of “Be Kind Rewind” are likeable and sincere and the audience immediately wants to be among this tight-knit group remaking their favorite big-budget Hollywood film.
Overall the story told here is light and loose, but peppered with many genuine laughs. It’s unclear if the store is saved; we learn Mr. Fletcher’s historical accounts are not entirely accurate and copyright concerns stop the “Sweding” business in its tracks. And while the movie offers glimpses at potential subplots such as a relationship between Mr. Fletcher and Miss Falewicz or the possibility of romance blooming around Mike and Alma, it never delves much deeper into the underlying stories or the characters’ motives.
“Be Kind Rewind” is a movie that explains why people love movies: Aside from the entertainment factor, people want to relate to what’s on the screen, to see a part of their own world, their own lives and themselves in the stories being told. It also is an ode to films; good and bad, critically acclaimed or panned, movies become part of the culture that views them. And if the film-lovers message doesn’t reach all in the audience, most viewers will leave the theater smiling, thinking of all the ways they would honor their favorite film with a “Sweded” version.
