Be Kind Rewind

Being a clerk at an independent video store that still carries video cassettes, there was no way I was going to miss a movie about a couple of guy’s working at an independent video store that still (and only) carries video cassettes. Be Kind, Rewind is just that and so much more. It’s the story of two guys (Jack Black, Mos Def) in New Jersey that make remakes of the modern Hollywood classics (we’re talking along the lines of Ghostbusters) to save a dying video store. Some of the issues that the film deals with place it well within realism (the reality of gentrification, but also the accurate portrayal of anal-retentive video store customers). At the same time, director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) masterfully adds vaudeville expressionism in a way that lends a pleasant absurdity without dismissing it as entirely so. Even Jack Black spares us from overperforming and delivers a role comparable to that in High Fidelity. If you liked Juno you might like this film, but with a rating of PG don’t expect anything edgy. I don’t usually say this, and when I do it’s not intended as a compliment, but it is here: watch this film at home, on your television, and preferably on VHS.

Favourite quote from the film:
Jack Black: “Is it NTSC?”
Customer: “No, it’s brand new!”

Good - because I liked it.

Starring Jack Black, Danny Glover, and Mos Def (Sigourney Weaver, too)
Directed by Michel Gondry