← Back to Reviews
in
Be Kind Rewind (Michel Gondry, 2008)
My daughter Sarah asked me when this film started what the rating for the highest rated Gondry was for me, so I told her, in MoFo terms, it was a , and that wasn't even Eternal Sunshine (which I've watched three times), so that should tell you something about my experiences with Gondry.When the movie ended, I told her I had a new high rating for the GondryMonster. The film seems to exist in an alternative universe, yet it's still so believeable that people who complain should be ignored as ones who are are far too literal (yes, I know your names, but I refuse to McCarthyize you here and now). To me, this is a modern-day Capra flick, and the people who love it, understand that. It makes the people in the true life neighborhood of Passaic, New Jersey, happy; it also makes all the movie characters happy, and I would hope, that it makes most viewers of the film happy.
The plot has been mentioned elsewhere. It basically involves some sci-fi activities which cause Jack Black's character to become magnetized, and since the movie is set in an alterantive universe, he just happens to erase all of the video store owner's {Danny Glover's) VHS tapes, so the guy left in charge (Mos Def) decides to try to reshoot ("Swede") all the damaged movie tapes, such as Ghostbusters, Rush Hour II, Driving Miss Daisy, Do the Right Thing, and many other "classics". Eventually, the neighborhood makes the remakes popular, but the Feds don't like it.
I find the movie to be a wonderful flick, which, in a perfect world, would not only attract oldtimers but newcomers. I have less faith that the younger generaton will fully embrace old-time filmmaking, although I find the sentiment to be one of the most lovely of any recent film I've seen. This film often feels slipshod, insignificant, offhand, sloppy, and out-of-control, yet it makes perfect sense to me. The offhandedness is surely part of its charm and makes it much easier to accept the film as a significant statement on how people love and appreciate film, in all its forms.
My daughter Sarah asked me when this film started what the rating for the highest rated Gondry was for me, so I told her, in MoFo terms, it was a , and that wasn't even Eternal Sunshine (which I've watched three times), so that should tell you something about my experiences with Gondry.When the movie ended, I told her I had a new high rating for the GondryMonster. The film seems to exist in an alternative universe, yet it's still so believeable that people who complain should be ignored as ones who are are far too literal (yes, I know your names, but I refuse to McCarthyize you here and now). To me, this is a modern-day Capra flick, and the people who love it, understand that. It makes the people in the true life neighborhood of Passaic, New Jersey, happy; it also makes all the movie characters happy, and I would hope, that it makes most viewers of the film happy.
The plot has been mentioned elsewhere. It basically involves some sci-fi activities which cause Jack Black's character to become magnetized, and since the movie is set in an alterantive universe, he just happens to erase all of the video store owner's {Danny Glover's) VHS tapes, so the guy left in charge (Mos Def) decides to try to reshoot ("Swede") all the damaged movie tapes, such as Ghostbusters, Rush Hour II, Driving Miss Daisy, Do the Right Thing, and many other "classics". Eventually, the neighborhood makes the remakes popular, but the Feds don't like it.
I find the movie to be a wonderful flick, which, in a perfect world, would not only attract oldtimers but newcomers. I have less faith that the younger generaton will fully embrace old-time filmmaking, although I find the sentiment to be one of the most lovely of any recent film I've seen. This film often feels slipshod, insignificant, offhand, sloppy, and out-of-control, yet it makes perfect sense to me. The offhandedness is surely part of its charm and makes it much easier to accept the film as a significant statement on how people love and appreciate film, in all its forms.