Review of Be Kind Rewind (2008) by Mike S — 21 Mar 2013

This is a quirky yet charming little film that, in the end, mixes too many genres. It starts off as a sort of slacker comedy about two guys (Jack Black and Mos Def) making their own versions of popular movies to re-stock the shelves of a local video rental store after accidentally erasing all the tapes in the store. The funniest part of the movie by far is the section where the duo re-makes classics like Ghostbusters, Robocop, Lion King, and Rush Hour 2 on no budget, using themselves and their neighbours as cast and crew.

The local townspeople enjoy the re-makes and soon join in by renting them and by participating in the production of them. So the film goes from slacker comedy to a hometown-pride kind of film. Meanwhile, the video store's owner is looking for ways to save his decaying building from the wrecking ball. So then the film becomes one of those stories where everyone tries to raise enough money (through video rentals) to save the store. To add a bit of tension, the FBI comes in to confiscate all the homemade movies for copyright infringement. The movie peters out in the end as the locals decide to make and screen an original film about a local historical figure. The ending is ambiguous but clearly designed to make you feel good.

There's also a romantic sub-plot that doesn't go anywhere.

It has its moments, but doesn't quite gel. Glover is good, but Black and Def seem mis-cast as New Jersey boys; they're too California to pull off the impression of working-class schmucks from the Northeast. There's an improvisational feel to the dialogue that makes it realistic, but somewhat rambling. Overlapping dialogue at times makes it difficult to tell what's going on, and Def has a tendency to mumble some of his lines.

This is enjoyable but ultimately fails to satisfy.