Be Kind Rewind (2008)

Warning: Not fit for children or adults

Some people seem to think that funny and stupid are the same thing. SORRY, this movie is just plain stupid and not the least bit funny. Like several other reveiwers of this movie, I was not able to sit all the way throught it. PLEASE do yourself a favor and avoid this movie as if it were the plague. December 31, 2008

wacky, funny & surprisingly touching

I won't mince words: I adored The Jane Austen Book Club. It was intelligent, warm and real. Impressively, in less than two hours, the film managed to deal with more than six storylines well. Sure, it's a little schmaltzy, but it's oddly satisfying. The film (based on Karen Joy Fowler's book of the same name) is not only an ode to Jane Austen, but to literature as a whole, especially its resonance over the years. As Jane Austen's novels are too, this movie is about life, love, loss, trust and friendship.

The cast was brilliant: Mario Bello, Kathy Baker, Emily Blunt, Amy Brenneman, Hugh Dancy, Maggie Grace, Jimmy Smits and Lynn Redgrave. It was wonderful to see Emily Blunt have so much to do, especially after seeing her do little but smoke a joint and take her clothes off in Charlie Wilson's War. Mario Bello was fantastic. Despite so many excellent female performances, Hugh Dancy stole the movie. He was charming, dapper, awkward and ultimately endearing.

In so many ways, this movie comes dangerously close to being cringe-inducing and cheesy. Wonderful acting and the back drop of both intellectual and catty banter about Jane Austen firmly anchors this story in a respectable space. I'm not claiming the film itself is brilliant, but many pieces of it are, and it's ridiculously entertaining and moving. I can't wait to see it again.
December 30, 2008

Fantastic

When this film was first released, I think many will agree that it didn't really receive that much recognition. In a way it's a shock considering it contains one of the big comedy stars of the moment, but hey there you are. This is without a doubt one of the more kooky pictures by Black, and let's be honest he's been in some pretty bizarre movies not counting Pick of Destiny. His character, Jerry also seems to be completely insane with a certain level of sanity that is quite endearing in its own way.

Be Kind Rewind, although the title of the film is the name of an ancient VHS store, and like the VHS this store is pretty much dead. One problem with the VHS which has plagued it from its birth to its death is that when exposed to magnetism, everything disappears. This is the basis of the story for which the film revolves.

The store of Be Kind Rewind is close to a century old and is rumoured to be the birth place of famous Jazz musician Fats Waller. Mike (Mos Def) and his friend Jerry (Black) are left in charge of the store while the current owner Elroy (Danny Glover) goes to do some research into the competition. The store doesn't have long left as Elroy is left an Ultimatum that he needs to bring the building up to safety codes or it will be torn down to make room for a new condo. For whatever reason, Jerry being completely insane and all wants to raid a power station which leads to the electricity raiding Jerry making him magnetic. After that event Jerry returns to the video store and due to his new found magnetism he incidentally erases all the movies on the video. Much to Mikes dismay, Jerry recommends they shoot their own versions of the movie starting with Ghostbusters.

This film is as unusual as it sounds and has some really side rippingly hysterical moments. The movie remakes by the duo are something to be experienced and make you wish they would be released as a seperate entity to this film. Jack Black as always has the viewer (myself) roaring with laughter as he makes the illusion of him being a complete nut job entirely believable. Mos Def's character, it has to be said was nothing entirely special and I just found myself becoming annoyed by his presence on screen. The presence of Danny Glover gives this a feel of authenticity as it's a film in which the main stars find themselves recreating classic movies, and although they didn't remake any of the Lethal Weapon movies, it would have been fun if they did simply due to Danny Glover being a part of this picture.

Overall it's an hysterical piece which starts off as completely bizarre in every way, but turns into one of the more heart warming and genuine films of the year. Black does it again with the ability to make us both laugh and cry at the triumphant end to such a wonderful but under appreciated picture. December 20, 2008

a better idea than it is a movie

After a bizarre industrial accident turns him into a human magnet, a lovable whacko named Jerry (Jack Black) inadvertently erases all the VHS tapes in his friend's low-end video store (so low-end it hasn`t even converted to DVDs yet). To compensate for this sudden and unexpected loss of merchandise, the employees devise a scheme to "re-shoot" each of the destroyed films on their own camcorder, hoping to fool the gullible customers into thinking that they`re renting the real things. Surprisingly, these homespun, zero-budget productions of such well-known items as "Ghostbusters," "Rush Hour 2" and "Driving Miss Daisy" quickly become a public sensation, with customers queuing up for blocks on end just for a chance to order up a "remake" of their choice.

If "Be Kind, Rewind" proves anything, it is that one can stretch a one-joke premise only so far before it twangs right back in redundancy and attenuation. The movie parodies are frankly more lame than they are inspired, but winning performances (Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow and Sigourney Weaver, among others), an unusual locale (Passaic, New Jersey), and a certain roughhewn coziness in the movie's appearance and tone make this a harmless enough little trifle fit for a rainy day rental - though I doubt anyone will be requesting a camcorder version of "Be Kind, Rewind" anytime soon. December 20, 2008

awesome movie

I was so happy to have seen this movie. It's sort of a throw-back to that innocent, fun feeling of the 80's. I thought overall this movie had such a good heart and liked everything about it. Besides that, it was very funny. These days a movie has to be sexual, or violent, or dark to win critics and moviegoers. I'm not sure that this movie will be considered a classic, but I am glad I have seen it and I recommended it to many friends. December 17, 2008

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