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Be Kind Rewind is a very inconsistent film, but its primary flaw is one that cannot be said to afflict many films at present: there are just too many ideas for one storyline. It therefore fails to settle into a consistent rhythm, and tonally it's all over the place. The central plot that has been pushed in advertising involves Jack Black becoming magnetised (a long story itself) and accidentally erasing all of the videotapes in a rental store. Therefore, he and Mos Def, who is running the store while owner Danny Glover is away, have to remake, or "Swede", all the movies themselves, starting with Ghostbusters. It's a likeable premise ripe for some good laughs, which it does generate, but not in any great frequency. The homemade films themselves are undeniably some of the best bits of Be Kind Rewind, but they aren't all gold - the Ghostbusters sequence, while entertaining, is merely a lengthy montage of the two actors pratting about to the iconic theme tune, providing nothing more than intermittent laughs. Other choices are just strange (why, of all films, remake Rush Hour 2? Admittedly, Black and Def as Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker respectively are pretty funny), but highlights include Robocop and - briefly - 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Director Michel Gondry made his name with the beloved Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a film for which writer Charlie Kaufman received most of the credit. Gondry's subsequent, more personal venture, The Science of Sleep, received less widespread acclaim. Be Kind Rewind is certainly another product specifically from Gondry's imagination as here he serves as both writer and director, and he gives his creative juices virtually free reign, leading to a film that veers wildly from comedy to fantasy to spoof to sentimental fable (and not necessarily in that order). Unsurprisingly it leads to a film that is great in parts put doesn't mesh together as a cohesive whole. There's a proliferation of underdeveloped side characters who would benefit from bigger roles, and also an erratic pace, suggesting that more time in the edit suite may have been beneficial.
Numerous plot holes and unlikely situations are immediately apparent when watching the film - a video store that only stocks VHS? Customers who pay for things they can watch on YouTube? Neglecting the fact that video copies could just be ordered from eBay? Many of these problems could have been solved by setting the film a few years ago. But also it's never quite clear whether the film is set in the real world; the method by which Jack Black becomes magnetised - electrocution by power plant - is utterly bonkers and suggests not. But give up trying to figure out the film's internal logic and there's a certain charm and warmth to the film, partly due to Jack Black's likeable mugging, partly due to the amateurish quality of the whole film (not just the Sweded imitations) and partly due to Gondry's eventual, and slightly confused, message, focusing on the power movies have to bring communities together.
The summary
It only works in fits and starts, but Be Kind Rewind gets a pass because of its originality and heart.
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