Review of Be Kind Rewind (2008) by Juan C — 12 Jul 2011

The concept of Michel Gondry's film is great, however it never quite lives up to its possibilities. The biggest let down is when Gondry allows himself a montage of all the films his characters create. His imagination could have gone completely wild, in a no holds barred manner, but we are left with something not befitting of his creativity.

There is also a great moment when Jack Black is seen in black face. This seems to work so well as there is some degree of believability that his character would act like this and not be aware of the social stigma attached to such a display. I also like the scene at the beginning of the film where Mos Def and Jack Black infiltrate a power station. However, even this scene was made more obvious than it needed to be.

The script itself had an independent vibe to it where the exposition was not entirely overt. The idea of playing with mythology also seemed relevant for the finale but at the same time not tied closely enough to the core story.