Be Kind Rewind

It’s a real treat when a film with even a vaguely unfamiliar premise comes along, and Be Kind Rewind falls into that increasingly small category.

Jack Black stars as Jerry – a slacker who becomes inexplicably magnetised following a botched sabotage attempt on his local power plant. This results in him accidentally erasing all the VHS tapes in his friend Mike’s antiquated rental store. Desperate to keep the loyal customers happy, Jerry and Mike (Mos Def) come up with a crazy scheme to re-make some of the well-known blockbusters themselves – a process they refer to as ‘sweding’.

Whether you like Jack Black or not, he’s perfectly suited to this role (which may sound slightly familiar) as a wild-eyed idiot with a good heart, who is more than a little annoying, but still manages to entertain.

Directed by quirky filmmaker Michel Gondry – best known for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – the film is a fantastic homage to the heyday of video rentals, with the hilarious ‘sweded’ versions of blockbusters such as Ghostbusters proving to be a real visual treat.

Despite a couple of gaping plot holes, I found this nostalgic and warm-hearted movie thoroughly entertaining and I’d definitely recommend it.

I watched it in the cinema and thought it was pretty funny. Some of the versions they make of the films are hilarious, but I do feel that it could have been a bit better.

There is also a kind of feel-good community spirit to the film.

Hi Scott,
Absolutely - I thought the sweded version of Rush Hour was particularly hilarious!

According to IMDB - Gondry was inspired to make Be Kind Rewind after he made Block Party - all set on the same city block...