Be Kind Rewind (Michel Gondry, 2008), USA

Reviewed by Kevin Tran

“Impossible” is a word that director Michel Gondry probably never uses in his vocabulary, especially when it comes to filmmaking. It’s a word that is challenged quite often in his latest feature film. Gondry has helped Gael Garcia Bernal win the girl of his dreams by literally showing her his dreams in The Science of Sleep. In Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind he saved Jim Carey from a life of isolation by going inside of his memories to rescue his girlfriend from being erased. But can the French director help Jack Black and Mos Def remake every single film in the Be Kind Rewind video store, in the film of the same title? It’s impossible, right?

Let’s backtrack; Mike (Mos Def) works for Mr. Fletcher (played by Danny Glover) who owns a small, crumbling video/thrift store in a little neighborhood in New Jersey. When Mike’s bizarre, best friend, Jerry (Jack Black), suddenly gets electrocuted and becomes magnetized; he accidentally erases all the VHS tapes in Fletcher’s store. To further Mike’s problem, the store’s most loyal costumer, Miss Falewicz (Mia Farrow), demands to watch the film Ghostbusters, which Mike proposes she will have 7:30 that night. The problem is that he cannot find a VHS copy of the film anywhere. So, the only possible solution left is for him and Jerry to create their own version of Ghostbusters that the two shoot on an old-fashion camcorder using clever, little props in the library. To Mike’s surprise (though not Jerry’s) they finish the film and it becomes a hit around the neighborhood. After the completion of their second hit film Rush Hour 2, they decide to remake all of the videos in the store to satisfy the heavy demands of their popular DIY movies with the help of members of the neighborhood. This long list includes classics such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Lion King, Robocop, When We Were Kings, and Driving Miss Daisey. However, government officials who threaten to tear down the video store if Fletcher doesn’t raise enough money to renovate the building up to code and copyright laws plan to end their fun and games.

Since the film doesn’t dive into any kind of magical realm of dreams or memories like Gondry’s past two movies, Be Kind Rewind may be his most assessable film to a wider audience. Though people probably should suspend their disbelief to even consider the plot to be somewhat realistic (the part where Black becomes magnetized). The strength of the film lies behind Gondry’s innovation and creativity when creating Mike and Jerry’s homemade masterpieces. Using tin foil and backpacks to replicate the Ghostbusters uniform, scrap metal to reproduce Robocop, and taping Jerry’s eyes back to look more like these just a brief example of props that Gondry includes in the film. The remakes are not only strikingly hilarious but also are amazing affective despite the invisibly thin budget. Which is why is films are so appealing and is why Mike and Jerry’s movies are so appealing in the film, because they are original, clever, funny, and from the heart.

While watching one Gondry’s old music videos (Beck, Bjork, The White Stripes, The Chemical Brothers) and past films, the audience is often left breathless, asking themselves, “How the heck did they do that?” One would think the answer lies in fancy, expensive computer effects – it almost never is. Instead Gondry uses cheap optical allusions, props and clever editing (and in Be Kind Rewind, if you pay attention, he doesn’t ignore the importance of sound mixing either). Gondry takes a little of here and there from his past music videos (in particular, “Cut The Lid Off” by Lucas, check it out) to create some of the film’s most prized sequences. Be Kind Rewind greatly displays Gondry’s talents and wonderful sense of humor, showing us how fun moving pictures can and should be, all while leaving the term “impossible” at the door.