Be Kind Rewind (2008)
I’ve read several reviews of this film, and all of these use the same word to describe it: whimsy. Some use it as a compliment, and others as a perjorative, but all seem to agree that it is the best single-word summation of the content of the movie. Having just seen it, I find that I cannot help but agree. The film lives in its own little carefree world, just a little bit goofier and imaginative than our own, where two loveable idiots can create a local sensation with nothing but blank VHS tapes and the change that they found in their couch cushions. However, even the greatest dose of whimsy cannot save a movie if it is not populated by people we actually care about. Be Kind Rewind unfortunately fails in this crucial dimension.
When the film works, it is a thing of pleasing wonder. This most often happens when we are being shown the fruits of Jack Black and Mos Def’s labors. Their so-called “Sweded” versions of various films are hilarious, in a best-of-YouTube fashion. If the film had stuck to this concept, I could have been more tolerant of the obvious logical gaps in the storyline (I doubt anyone, no matter how much of a shut-in they’d been, could have mistaken their remakes for actual Hollywood product). However, the filmmakers feel the need to throw two rather unnecessary plotlines into the film, both revolving around the shop owner’s attempts to drum up enough cash to save his building from demolition.
Near the start of the film, Danny Glover’s character is given an ultimatum by the local building inspectors. He must either completely renovate his building, a project that will cost thousands of dollars, or else vacate the store so it can be demolished as part of a neighborhood gentrification project. He promptly takes a train to New York to study modern methods of video rental, leading to several scenes of him wandering around rather pathetically in a Blockbuster-clone, taking notes in a little notebook. These scenes do nothing to benefit the story, and in fact bring the film to a crashing halt every time one is allowed to interrupt the narrative. I actually came to hope that he would sell out his store, since the man obviously was too far behind the times to ever recover.
Once Jerry and Mike learn of their employer’s predicament, they begin to raise money through their impossibly popular remakes. However, the MPAA, in the guise of Sigourney Weaver, has to rain on the parade, and serve the duo with a cease and desist order for copywrite infringement. All of the sweded movies are bulldozed, and not even a documentary film about Fats Waller assembled by the entire neighborhood can raise enough money to save the store from destruction. Despite the uplifting scenes of the people coming together, the movie still can’t help but end on a down note, as the audience is left with no illusions that the store will remain standing for long. Why the filmmakers couldn’t have come up with a better ending, I don’t know. As it now stands, the movie imparts the message that all of the whimsy, magic and imagination in the world can never stand up to the grim forces of money and politics - an unwelcome message, and one that is quite out of line with the rest of the film.
When the film works, it is a thing of pleasing wonder. This most often happens when we are being shown the fruits of Jack Black and Mos Def’s labors. Their so-called “Sweded” versions of various films are hilarious, in a best-of-YouTube fashion. If the film had stuck to this concept, I could have been more tolerant of the obvious logical gaps in the storyline (I doubt anyone, no matter how much of a shut-in they’d been, could have mistaken their remakes for actual Hollywood product). However, the filmmakers feel the need to throw two rather unnecessary plotlines into the film, both revolving around the shop owner’s attempts to drum up enough cash to save his building from demolition.
Near the start of the film, Danny Glover’s character is given an ultimatum by the local building inspectors. He must either completely renovate his building, a project that will cost thousands of dollars, or else vacate the store so it can be demolished as part of a neighborhood gentrification project. He promptly takes a train to New York to study modern methods of video rental, leading to several scenes of him wandering around rather pathetically in a Blockbuster-clone, taking notes in a little notebook. These scenes do nothing to benefit the story, and in fact bring the film to a crashing halt every time one is allowed to interrupt the narrative. I actually came to hope that he would sell out his store, since the man obviously was too far behind the times to ever recover.
Once Jerry and Mike learn of their employer’s predicament, they begin to raise money through their impossibly popular remakes. However, the MPAA, in the guise of Sigourney Weaver, has to rain on the parade, and serve the duo with a cease and desist order for copywrite infringement. All of the sweded movies are bulldozed, and not even a documentary film about Fats Waller assembled by the entire neighborhood can raise enough money to save the store from destruction. Despite the uplifting scenes of the people coming together, the movie still can’t help but end on a down note, as the audience is left with no illusions that the store will remain standing for long. Why the filmmakers couldn’t have come up with a better ending, I don’t know. As it now stands, the movie imparts the message that all of the whimsy, magic and imagination in the world can never stand up to the grim forces of money and politics - an unwelcome message, and one that is quite out of line with the rest of the film.