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Be Kind Rewind

Movie · 2008 · 13 people

Mos Def (Yasiin Bey), Jack Black, Mia Farrow, Danny Glover and Melonie Diaz lead Be Kind Rewind, the 2008 buddy comedy that Michel Gondry wrote and directed. New Line Cinema and Focus Features made it as a US-UK-French co-production. The title echoes a polite notice common on American rental cassettes. It premiered at Sundance on 20 January 2008, then screened at the Berlin International Film Festival, and opened in Turkey on 25 April 2008.

The story is set in an old-fashioned neighbourhood video rental shop run by Elroy Fletcher. When Fletcher goes away he leaves the shop with Mike. Mike's conspiracy-loving friend Jerry blames his headaches on a nearby power station and tries to sabotage it; he ends up magnetised, and most of the tapes on the shelves are wiped. To save the failing shop, the pair set out to remake Ghostbusters, RoboCop and The Lion King with whatever they have to hand.

Reviews were mixed. The film, budgeted at 20 million dollars, took about 30 million, and Mos Def received a Black Reel Award nomination for his role. The amateur remake craze the film popularised is known in French as "suédage".

DirectorMichel Gondry
Production companyNew Line Cinema

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Cast

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Danny Glover Danny Glover Actor · 80 years old Sacha Bourdo Actor · 64 years old Jack Black Mos Def Melonie Diaz Mia Farrow Sigourney Weaver Kid Creole and the Coconuts John Tormey Marceline Hugot Karolina Wydra Matt Walsh Paul Dinello

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Through different eyes

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

Two friends trying to save an old video shop is a warm idea for a family evening. Remaking famous films with whatever they have to hand has a playful feel that can make children laugh too. One note: little ones who don't know the films being copied may miss half the jokes. For parents, remembering those films is a pleasure of its own. With young children it is worth previewing first; it works better with teenagers.

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

The strongest thing about Be Kind Rewind is that it makes love of cinema the subject of the story itself: remaking Ghostbusters, RoboCop and The Lion King with whatever is at hand is a clever idea that plays on the viewer's own film memory. The trouble is that the idea is stronger than the script. The premise, with Jerry magnetised and the tapes wiped, is deliberately absurd and endearing, but the save-the-shop struggle that follows leans on a very familiar template. The mixed reviews, I think, come from that imbalance: the remake segments carry the film's spirit, while the connective tissue between them stays loose. Even so, popularising the amateur-remake craze known in French as suédage shows that the film's influence outgrew the film.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

The film treats the old-fashioned neighbourhood video rental shop as a meeting place, and in doing so it records a culture that has all but vanished. Even its title, taken from a polite notice on American rental cassettes, sums up its attachment to the tape era. The two friends who shoot their own films to save the shop stand for a moment when viewers turned into makers; the amateur-remake craze the film popularised even earned a name of its own. What it says about the worth of the local and the handmade next to big studio films feels, to my mind, even more relevant now that watching has gone entirely digital.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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