message in the movies By Rev. Bruce Batchelor Glader

        
Be Kind Rewind  Rated PG-13
Directed by Michel Gondry.  Starring Jack Black, Mos Def

Photos © New Line Cinema
I remember, when I was a kid, leaving the movie theater after an especially thrilling movie to run into the backyard and act out the movie with my friends.  Kids have been doing this for decades and now, with You Tube and the ready availability of low-cost video recorders, you can see children of all ages starring in their own instant parodies and homages to current and classic films.  So, what’s the point of “Be Kind Rewind”?  Beats me.  This whimsical film begins with a freak accident that erases all of the videotapes in a Passaic, New Jersey neighborhood videotape rental store and the efforts of three young adults to replace the ruined tapes with homemade (or “sweded”) versions of the movies.  So Jerry (Black) and Mike (Def), together with Alma (Melonie Diaz), their new friend, reenact scenes from “Ghostbusters”, “Robocop”, “Driving Miss Daisy” and other hits, using tinfoil, cardboard, and even pizza pies to make their mini-movie masterpieces.  All of this activity takes place while the boss (Danny Glover) is away investigating the success of a nearby DVD chain rental store and wondering if it may be time to close his videotape-only store for good.  Golly, it sure seems like most towns figured this one out ten years ago.  While I found the film to be diverting and even (at times) somewhat magical, the more I thought about it, the less I thought about it.  If the film was meant to be a celebration of creativity, repeating movie scenes line-for-line hardly qualifies (and this was done to better effect in Wes Anderson’s wonderful 1998 film “Rushmore”).  Another theme of the film – and it’s a good one – is the importance of community. But I doubt that keeping a two-bit video store (with only a handful of titles) in business enhances the neighborhood much.  A true populist would embrace what is happening in towns across America: public libraries offer DVD rentals for free to anyone who signs up for a library card.  And, if you’re patient, this film will make it there.

Pitchfork Rating: Two halos.  (A good-hearted, if somewhat empty-headed, celebration of do-it-yourself play.)  One pitchfork. (For a couple of crude comments, arguably put in the film to move it up from what would otherwise be a G-rated comedy.)

 

 

 

 

 

                       
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