Be Kind Rewind
Index No.: 2452
Category: :Comedy::Sci-Fi:
Language: Running Time: 1 hr 41 mi
Release: 2008
Director: Michel Gondry
Cast: Mia Farrow
Danny Glover
Sigourney Weaver
Jack Black
Mos Def
Melonie Diaz
Description: A daffy, adorable, and very funny celebration of DIY spirit,
Be Kind Rewind stars Mos Def (
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) as Mike, a clerk at a failing video store in a rundown New Jersey neighborhood. When his friend Jerry (Jack Black), who's been magnetized in a power station accident, wipes all of the videotapes blank, the two of them decide to recreate the movies themselves rather than face the store's owner (Danny Glover). The pure charm of
Be Kind Rewind can't be captured in that spare plot synopsis. The blend of the movie's great cast (which also includes Mia Farrow, Melonie Diaz of
American Son, and Sigourney Weaver) and pitch-perfect writing and direction from writer-director Michel Gondry (director of
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, writer-director of
The Science of Sleep) culminates in a truly delightful movie--sweet without being saccharine, richly comic without irony or sarcasm (which, given the presence of Black, is surprising), sentimental without losing sight of the hard edges of life. Mos Def turns in a standout performance, deeply sympathetic without a moment of grandstanding. An absolutely winning film.
--Bret Fetzer 
Index No.: 2452
