Thanks for checking out our Be Kind Rewind review, make sure to check out our video review at the bottom of the page!
The General Idea
Plot outline from IMDB: Jerry is a junkyard worker who attempts to sabotage a power plant he suspects of causing his headaches. But he inadvertently causes his brain to become magnetized, leading to the unintentional destruction of all the movies in his friend’s store. In order to keep the store’s one loyal customer, an elderly lady with a tenuous grasp on reality, the pair re-create a long line of films including The Lion King, Rush Hour, Ghostbusters, When We Were Kings, Back to the Future, Driving Miss Daisy, and Robocop, putting themselves and their townspeople into it. They become the biggest stars in their neighborhood.
The Good
The idea of people remaking well known movies and renting them out is a fantastic idea. In this film the movie is at its best when they are doing just that. Jerry (Jack Black) and Mike (Mos Def) use fast talking, ingenuity and limitless imagination to recreate some well known classics and it is an absolute pleasure to watch them do so. They props and costumes that they assemble are made from junk that you or I could gather ourselves (and watching them makes you want to do likewise).
I very much enjoyed the local aspect of this film and watching different people in the community interact with each other. Jerry is pretty much crazy, lives in a trailer and his interaction with the locals was fantastic. He was strange, but because he was local, people just accepted him the way he was without flinching. Every town has their “local crazies,” they become celebrities and part of the tapestry. You learn to appreciate who they are, and what they bring to a community. In my home town of Welland we have a man that wears denim from head to toe and walks around the city from sunrise to sunset. He will sing you assorted Doors lyrics for cigarettes and every time I am in town I keep an eye out for the man. He walks the earth like cain, but looks like a roadie for Motorhead. If you owned a piece of land by how many footsteps you put upon it – he would be be Welland’s undisputed monarch.
The Bad
Although the idea for this film was great and the movie making segments were fantastic, the story that held it all together was quite weak. We spend a lot of time on the myth of a local Jazz Legend that really takes focus away from the story and adds an unnecessary mythos to the plot. Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover), the owner of the store, is absent for much of the film, and to be honest his character adds nothing to the story. Danny was good in the film, but his character’s absence would have made for a better movie.
This film was also too long, it really should have been trimmed down to keep the pace tighter, if they sliced out danny glover and jazz history, this film would have had more focus on what was important. The city and the FBI both play enemies of the video store in the film; either would have been fine, but to have two different forces threatening the store was overkill.
Overall
I enjoyed this film, but certainly had problems with the story. This movie reminds us that we love many films in spite of their flaws, and this is a self fulfilling prophecy. I would recommend this film because the cool parts are worth checking out and although I wasn’t busting a gut laughing – I did enjoy myself. Out of 10, I would give this film a 6.
