Be Kind Rewind

I missed this film at Sundance, caught it as soon as possible, and I wasn't disappointed. Despite being privy to the exhaustive fine-tuning of an indie film with an improvised feel, watching "Be Kind" I could absolutely believe it came together as quickly and spontaneously as the snippets of "sweded" films. This was part of its charm and I think Gondry's intention.

All the actors were engaging, and genuine heartfelt emotion - most definitely by the surprising, naturally pitch-perfect Mos Def - transcended the dialog, plot points and general wackiness.

The Fats Waller thread was just random enough and very skillfully and satisfyingly woven into the story from beginning to end. This and many other details - including touches like lovely Mia Farrow's curiosity about supernatural films and Sigourney Weaver's brief take-charge turn - convinced me that Gondry put quite a bit of thought and skill into perfecting the film's endearing awkwardness. It might not be to everybody's taste, but I think it was a great idea, executed and seasoned just right.

For the first half hour, Be Kind Rewind is a fairly dull little comedy. It improves markedly when the central premise kicks in, in which two dopes wind up filming shoestring remakes of famous movies. Then it becomes very enjoyable in a silly sort of way, and sustains that for much of the next hour.

The last half hour of the movie relies less on humor and more on the good feeling the characters have engendered during the film. This last part is kind of nice, but it's not all that funny and I never felt strongly enough about the characters to really connect with the final part.

In the end, I feel the problem with Be Kind Rewind is (and this is not something one says often) that it is not a one-joke movie. Because the one joke is really funny, and the problem is all that stuff meant to make that one joke part of a genial movie that attempts to say something about community and making films for love and that sort of thing.

It's a very well-intentioned, sometimes very amusing movie, but I found it way too uneven.

The trailer really said it all about this film, and the film delivers everything it promises! What a great concept and how great a story we got from Gondry this time. Very accessible (unlike Science of Sleep) and entertaining from beginning to end. Jack Black and Mos Def play their parts well and the aforementioned is actually funny in this one, unlike a lot of his recent work. At the core of it all, Be Kind Rewind tells a great story about how you don't really need high-tech equipment to make movies. Who needs film-school when you've got your friends and a cheap camera?

I really enjoyed this film.

French film-making has been bankrupt for decades.

Oh, we've had "Amelie," and that's great, but in general, the ideas of reflection and cinematic exposure in French hands have been about as successful as the architecture of the Pompidou Center is engaging. Even the art therein, as typified by Niki de Saint-Phalle, is wan.

But these ideas have always had promise, and combined with the American invention of noir have more or less become embedded in everyday film. There isn't a better example than Michel Gondry. He was an ordinary drummer in an ordinary band until making that band's videos. And then Bjork's. And then Kaufman films, and then an Oscar. Finally, perhaps the highest honor for a creative mind: to be named artist in residence at MIT.

Here is the product of that tenure.

Its a film with three distinct parts. These parts are not well integrated, I think by design, and that will allow newspaper and internet reviewers pretending to be critics to give it bad marks. And that will be too bad. In my city, this was showing in one theater, for one late showing per day.

The first part of the film is a rather conventional Jack Black-centric comedy. It involves his battle with the massive power plant next to the junkyard in which he lives. Its funny in what is already a conventional juvenile style. It however has one of the best sight gags in recent memory: Black shows up one day in camouflage to convince the Mos Def (even the name is a joke) character to participate in an assault on the plant. Later, he in (cameo as well) and Jack do climb the fence surrounding the plant. But they are interrupted by the cops and freeze, their cameo perfectly matching where they happen to be standing, complete with partial signage. That one joke is worth your six bucks.

The middle section has the two taping ad hoc versions of the movies in the store. Its a wholly different sort of humor, goofing on the folding mechanism I note so often in my comments. These are homemade movies within a homemade movie. Each follows Ted's law in being precisely as abstract (which in this case includes the offhand homemadeness) as the movie in which it exists. Some of this is really good, and to keep it funny, the pace increases phenomenally until it would take many viewings to get the jokes.

The final section is a third film, whose effectiveness depends on the first two. Its sweet, deep and very affecting. You will end up crying as I did. They are unable to continue making "Sweded" versions of movies because of the evil studios, who surely are moving to become as strong as possible in fighting imagination. So they make a "new" movie, a fiction about Fats Waller. You will have seen parts of this at the beginning of the film, and there's no mistake that this is the emotional center of the project — and why Danny Glover was required.

Its in the tradition of a Rooney-Garland "let's have a show" movie, involving the entire neighborhood. And it is as sweet and endearing as can be. Extremely post-racist and human, unashamedly using children where they mean something. And celebrating the sort of random "make up anything" fun that's at the soul of Waller's music. If you know Swedish films, even the term is a massive joke.

This is a gem. If you like film, and as a result are in danger of jaded watching, of analytical hell, this will help you escape. It could be one of the two best films you will see this year.

Oh, and after you see it. Not before, after, you really must see the trailer by Gondry where he "Swedes" his own film, replacing the Black and Def characters — in fact every character — with himself.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Michel Gondry is a very talented filmmaker especially when it comes to visuals. His music videos and films go beyond simple video marvels into a world of simple visual trickery. This is something Gondry is very good at. Furthermore, he has a do it yourself mantra when it comes to filmaking. He's not into the marvels of CGI. He's more into what you can do without it.

But it takes a little more than visual trickery to make a film a success. Be Kind Rewind is a prime example. The film starts off well enough. Mos Def helps run a video store owned by Danny Glover's character. The store is probably one of the last remaining stores catering to VHS. Jack Black is Mos Def's left of center friend who works at an electrical plant. Through some plan to sabotage the plant, he becomes magnetic, erasing all the tapes.

Our heroes are forced to re-record the movies and do it through a process called "sweding," producing 10-15 minute versions of the film, using a wide array of do it yourself techniques that Gondry himself has utilized in his work. An example is a simple trick where filming through a fan makes the film look old. All of this is fun. The way the guys try to truncate the film's stories into a little time or their lack of knowledge regarding some films like Driving Miss Daisy. the crude effects are fun and are prime examples of why we love Michel Gondry.

The downside to the film is the script, penned by Gondry. Clearly, the film is built around the sweded films. But I was starting to think that watching the sweded films would've been more fun than watching Be Kind Rewind itself. Gondry never fully fleshes out his characters or resolves some of the subplots. The visuals are fun, but when Gondry's forced to wrap up the movie, it becomes a little sporadic and we start to realize the the film doesn't go much beyond its rich concept.

There is something great to take away from this film. And while I have some reservations about the film, my recommendation for the film is based on Gondry's filmaking vision. That is to say, there is clearly a joy of filmaking associated with Gondry that will have me continue to look forward to his work. If you're not sure what I mean, take a look at his promotional materials or at his other short films. The man loves filmaking and has fun with this movie. However, I'd recommend he build an alliance with some good screenwriters that would help his visions become fully realized, and not just good natured diversions, as this film is.