Be Kind Rewind

Memo to Michel Gondry: “original” isn’t synonymous with “senseless and stupid”

By Matt Pais

Critic's Rating:

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Jack Black in "Be Kind Rewind" (Credit: New Line)

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After his loudmouth friend Jerry (Jack Black) magnetizes himself--don’t ask--and erases all the tapes in a New Jersey video store, the shop’s interim manager Mike (Mos Def) determines that the only solution is for them to remake the movies themselves and hope customers don’t notice. The store’s already in danger of being relocated to the projects unless its building is brought up to code in 60 days, but the future looks brighter when, for some reason, community members enjoy the cheap, 20-minute reenactments and start assisting in their creation.

Big question: Can writer-director Michel Gondry add some more clearly sketched ideas to the whimsy of his last film, the touching “The Science of Sleep”? 
 
Skip it: Anyone who found the genial folks in “Lars and the Real Girl” far-fetched will have their mind blown by the clowns in this town, who are amazed at the quality of things like Jack Black’s atrocious Jackie Chan impression in “Rush Hour 2.” Gondry apparently intends to tell a story about people’s relationships with movies, but he winds up saying films are impersonal just because they look professional and don’t star YOU.
 
Catch it: To learn cinematic shortcuts for your home movies. Smart: a whirling fan recreating the sound of old filmstrips. Not quite as smart: instead of making it look like blood is spurting out of someone’s head after a gunshot, have them lay on a pizza that passes for the pool of blood.
 
Bottom line: To name all the logical problems involving time, money and common sense would take longer than filming your own version of “Titanic.” Suffice to say that Mike and Jerry’s re-enactments—particularly “Ghostbusters”—are hilarious, but the concept of “Be Kind Rewind” works as well as a shattered DVD.
 
Bonus: When Jerry tells Mike that they can start making original movies, he jokingly proposes doing “Rush Hour 6.” Here’s hoping that’s the only time anyone suggests that!

Video: Watch the review of 'Be Kind Rewind'

What do you think of 'Be Kind Rewind'? Email me: mpais@tribune.com