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| Director: Michel Gondry
Actors: Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow, Melonie Diaz
Studio: New Line Cinema
Buy New: $3.99
Rating:  80 reviews
Sales Rank: 691
Genre: Comedy
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: Video On Demand
Running Time: 101 Minutes
ASIN: B001B6PBLU
Theatrical Release Date: February 22, 2008
Release Date: October 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 80
 I Guess July 27, 2008
Ron (Jersey)
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
I see a bunch of 5 star reviews, but also an equal number of 1 star. I guess I was in the group that hated this film. With such a talented cast and an amazing comedic talent like Jack Black, I really had high hopes for this film. After seeing the trailer, I knew I wanted to rent this one. Sadly, the trailer had everything that is good in the film. The rest is just not funny. The movie is like a one joke skit that just goes on and on. The low budget remakes of popular movies with Jack and Mos are a little funny the first time they start with Ghostbusters, but as things drag on and on, it gets less and less funny. I really struggled to finish this film without forwarding. I would recommend renting this before buying, even if you are a big Jack Black fan.
 A nice homage to filmmaking. September 22, 2008
Puzzle box (Kuwait)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I got this film on Blu-ray and decided to review it. Be Kind Rewind was an unusual film directed by Michael Gondry, the French director who made a couple of music videos for artists like Bjork so he has a certain style and visual flair which he also uses in his films, he is very creative and talented and definitely has an eye for a great setup or a memorable scene. The film was about these workers in the local VHS rental store called Be Kind Rewind, one day the local weirdo Jerry played by Jack Black tries to sabotage the small electric company relay station across the way and gets himself magnetised, he manages to wipe all the VHS tapes in the store. This off course causes alot of problems since all the rental tapes are now blank and the store can't operate. The store owner Mr. Flatcher (Danny Glover) went away for a while on a recon mission so it's up to Mike (Mos Def) and Jerry to make a plan so they don't lose their customers. Then Jerry comes up with the ridiculous idea of remaking shorter versions of the flicks with them as the leads, since Mike is desperate to not lose his job or his promise to the store owner he goes along with Jerry's idea. The store is located in a rundown part of the city in Passaic, NJ suggested as the birthplace of "Fats" a legendary jazz musician, the employees also have to save the building and this is where the community joins in and a lot of the locals become extras in the film and it takes off to point the movie lawyers put a stop to proceedings.
During the story the shop itself is under threat of demolition to make way for new apartment blocks. The film had a couple of daft and goofy characters that were engaging and interesting to watch, the film also had a bit of charm while not a laugh riot like some of Jack Black's other films like School of Rock (Widescreen Edition), Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny or Shallow Hal it still is a good film with an original storyline and some great moments the funniest part is probably when they were trying to recreate Driving Mrs. Daisy and no one even remembers that film, I have to admit though the ending was a bit too sappy. The films that both characters were making ended up looking pretty good (O.K. not all of them, some were abit lame) and shows that even average normal people can make something creative with filmmaking techniques and no budgets, I also felt abit nostalgic it reminded me of the time when I use to rent at the video store and it seems like VHS nowadays is the thing of the past and there aren't alot of people who buy or rent VHS anymore not only that but I'm watching this film on Blu-ray which is kind of ironic. The 1080p picture quality on this Blu-ray dvd looks stunning and I found it to be excellent throughout, while being subtle and detailed. The 7.1 DTS HD soundtrack was both subtle and refined and not in your face or loud. It matched the on screen action just as subtly as you would want. Overall the film was great while not the best Jack Black film I've seen it was pretty close and it had a good cast of characters, if you're a big Jack Black fan like myself then you'll definitely enjoy this.
A few laughs, but overall a let down March 5, 2008
Concerned One (Clarinda, IA)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
The previews of this movie basically summed up all the funny parts this movie had to offer. It is the tale of Mr. Fletcher's "Be Kind, Rewind" VHS video store that is losing out to big business. It serves a small community who has appeared to have almost given up on itself. But after a freak electrical accident, all the video tapes in the store get erased. How can the small store make money without movies? They Make thier own. When doing this, they possibly revive the spirit of the community it is in.
Sounds like a touching story, but overall, just really to choppy to flow well. They have the funny parts mixed in with a really sad backstory which just don't work well together. Plus, the movie re-make thing is funny for a bit, but does get old quickly. The ending is not a surprise, and overall, the need to suspend disbelief is so high that I found it hard to enjoy at times. If you must, turn off your brain and see this in the theaters. Otherwise, wait till rental
Get Sweded May 25, 2008
E. A Solinas (MD USA)
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
VHS is pretty much dead now, but it has one characteristic that "Be Kind Rewind" revolves around: expose it to magnetism, and it dies.
So you can probably guess what happens in Michel Gondry's fourth movie, and his first foray into all-out comedy. It has some plot holes and a rather bizarre premise, but there's a warm, funny little heart buried in the kooky antics and wild remakes of every movie from "Ghostbusters" to "Lord of the Rings."
Be Kind Rewind is an ancient video store, and supposedly the birthplace of unknown jazz legend Fats Waller. It's also due to be razed for a new block of condos -- so store owner Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover) goes on a scouting trip for a week, leaving his conscientious clerk Mike (Mos Def) in charge.
Unfortunately local weirdo Jerry (Jack Black) tries to destroy a local power plant, because he believes it's controlling his brain. Instead he gets fried, and his body becomes a walking electromagnet -- which they only discover after he's wandered through the store, erasing all the old tapes. Even worse, a regular customer (Mia Farrow) wants "Ghostbusters" by that evening.
So Mike and Jerry hurriedly shoot their OWN version of the movie, with the help of Alma (Melonie Diaz) and soon they find that their "Sweded" movies have a growing fanbase, and they are statewide celebrities. But the demolition deadline is approaching, and Hollywood lawyers are threatening them for copyright infringement -- will the town's new devotion to these quirky "Sweding" moviemakers help them stay?
Michel Gondry's movies are always set in "real life," but with a few drops of the unreal -- memory erasure, waking surrealist dreams, that kind of thing. And even though "Be Kind Rewind" is set in a grimy, shabby New Jersey town, it has the same delightfully unreal quality -- it's a genial buddy comedy where literally anything can happen.
I'll admit, there are some moments that don't entirely work. Note the awkward "this town is a swamp" exchange, and we're expected to allow the plot holes to slide (where did the infringement lawyers go?). And that whole magnetized body fluids thing was just gross.
But despite its flaws, it's somehow a very lovable movie. It's crammed with physical and verbal comedy ("Iloveyou Iloveyou we'relovers kissme!"), ranging from amateur train hijacks to an inept break-in at a DVD rental store. And a merely entertaining movie becomes sidesplitting when our heroes start shooting a ghastly no-budget "Ghostbusters" with fishing rods, tinsel, and bags of goo. This is followed by "Robocop," "2001," "Rush Hour 2," "Driving Miss Daisy" and several others -- all with no budget, borrowed costumes, cardboard sets, and a cast of rank amateurs.
Gondry is obviously having a roaring good time lampooning Hollywood blockbusters. But he also injects some deeper currents into what could have been a one-joke movie -- there's a bittersweet subplot about the possibility of losing the store that has brought a community together. Yeah, it's supposed to tug at the heartstrings, but it really does work -- particularly since the movie rental industry is going belly-up.
One particularly nice touch is that the movie ends -- and is punctuated by -- scenes of a very low-budget, old-looking biopic of Fats Waller. Initially it just seems like another conceit, but it turns out to be very important to the plot.
Black is a delight as the insane Jerry, brimming with manic energy -- in one scene, he encases himself in aluminum foil. Mos Def's Mike is more pleasant and low-key as the responsible boy-next-door type, and Danny Glover is outstanding as the paternal, gravel-voiced Mr. Fletcher. Diaz is also quite solid as a vague love interest/codirector/costar; and keep an eye out for Sigourney Weaver in a small cameo.
Michel Gondry's fourth full-length film is a big-hearted, mildly bittersweet little comedy, with the slightly unreal quality you expect from his films. I want the Sweded "Be Kind Rewind!"
So many movies would be better Sweded :-) June 19, 2008
terpfan1980 (Somewhere near Washington DC, United States)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
So many movies would be a lot better if they really were 'Sweded' :-)
This film takes a little time to get going and by the end you may wonder how many times the story had changed along the way, but it is a fun and charming picture by the end.
Of course nothing in the film is really that believable and a film with Jack Black is expected to be more than a little crazy and zany. In that area, this film delivers. Jack Black plays Jerry, a guy that is more than a little weird who happens to magnetize himself while trying to sabotage the power company. His pal Mike is played by Mos Def. Mike works in a small video store that still rents -- perish the thought -- VHS videos. The owner of the store, Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover), is a jazz fan that repeatedly told Mike and neighborhood kids tales of famous jazz musician Fats Waller and how he'd lived in the same building that Mr. Fletcher's video store Be Kind Rewind now occupies. Mr. Fletcher goes off for a reunion of his buddies and while he is gone, Mike lets Jerry in the store (despite Mr. Fletcher's mixed up instructions not to let that happen) while he's magnetized and of course the store's inventory of tapes winded up erased.
Mike and Jerry take matters into their own hands and wind up creating replacement films for the customers that come in demanding something to watch. With a bunch of blank tapes and video camera in hand, they start creating their own versions of the films that customers are asking for. Sweded versions of films. (Short versions of films that still convey the main story.)
Soon the neighborhood residents and customers are all in the act, helping to create the films that they want to see. Meanwhile Mr. Fletcher has to raise enough money to save his building from urban renewal and the hands of developers. Can he raise enough money to save his business and building or will outside forces keep that from happening?
Warning to light sensitive viewers, the film starts out 'blinking' (strobing) intentionally. If you are sensitive to such things, avoid the film. At a minimum consider yourself forewarned. The same strobing is done later in the film, so don't consider it safe just because you've gotten through the early segments of the film.
Included in the film are several nods to other films as we get to see films Sweded. Films like Robocop, Driving Miss Daisy (which really would be improved by such a process ;-) , Ghostbuster and more. It's fun to see Mike and Jerry making their own versions of these films and it's interesting to see the reaction of the customers as more customers keep showing up to see the versions of movies that they've done.
I've rated this film at 4 stars though I really think it's more of a 3.5/5 stars film. I've rounded up, but could just as easily have leaned in the other direction and rounded down towards 3 stars. The film is rated PG-13 and is family friendly enough to see with younger viewers. Share it with your family if you'd like a few laughs.
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