Comedy Meets Artistry: Be Kind Rewind is a Trip Through the Imagination

Be Kind Rewind will probably never win an Oscar, nor will it break box-office records; but it's bound to leave you with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. Director Michel Gondry creates a feel-good movie with an indy feel despite casting big name actors like Jack Black, Danny Glover, Mos Def and Mia Farrow. Calling on his talents as a visually stimulating filmmaker, Gondry delivers a picture that appeals to a breadth of audiences and still maintains his creative style.

The script, written by Gondry, has a fresh concept behind it; however, it does not escape all movie clichés. The plot revolves around two friends, Mike (Mos Def) and Jerry (Jack Black), who re-shoot classic movies to earn enough money to save a failing VHS rental store owned by Mr. Fletcher (played by Danny Glover). Fletcher's store offers no DVDs and can't compete with the "Blockbuster-type" rental store across the street; it might even be torn down to make way for modern complexes. This scenario reminds one of You've Got Mail, in which Meg Ryan's character loses her independent book store to the large, chain-operated "Fox Books" store. The quest to save a failing business with little to offer except sentimental value isn't exactly original and stands as one of Be Kind Rewind's few flaws.

Fletcher's store, fittingly called "Be Kind Rewind," serves as the foundation for the bonds Mike, Jerry, and Mr. Fletcher share. Fletcher, a jazz aficionado, tells Mike that local jazz legend Fats Waller was born in the same building where the video store is now located. Young Mike embraces the significance of the building, and it becomes a sentimental hallmark in his life.

At first, the Fats Waller element doesn't seem to tie into the plot except for the fact that Mr. Fletcher and Mike revere the musician. Throughout Be Kind Rewind, clips of a homemade documentary on Fats' life starring Mike and Jerry appear intermittently in the movie. These scenes seem out of place and confusing during the film, but the ending clears up any doubts about the relevance of Fats and his impact on the central characters' conflict.

The conflict in the film arises when Jerry erases all the VHS tapes in the store with his newly acquired magnetic powers. Jerry, who lives in a shabby van next to a power plant, is paranoid that the power plant is frying his brain, so he attempts to sabotage the facility. In the process, he gets shocked by hundreds of electric bolts and becomes a living human magnet. This scene is ridiculous as Jerry hangs suspended in the air with bolts of energy fizzing around his body; it reminded me of reading a "Flash" comic book and watching the hero gain super-speed after a freak accident involving electricity. Only Jerry doesn't become a hero, he becomes Mike's worst nightmare.

Black's performance as Jerry in Be Kind Rewind resembles his previous performances in School of Rockand OrangeCounty. He still plays an overweight, washed-up, directionless thirty-something with lots of passion for one thing. InSchool of Rock, this one thing is his new rock band; in Be Kind Rewind, it's the homemade movies he creates with Mike.

Nevertheless, Black is hilarious in his portrayal of Jerry, especially when Jerry becomes overzealous about his newfound profession and starts getting bossy. It's Black at his best, and it's impossible not to laugh as he butchers the Ghostbusters theme song and accidentally sets a car on fire. Gondry must have known Black's quirky and loud persona on and off the screen would fit perfectly with his vision of Jerry.

Michel Gondry not only writes with originality, he also uses simple yet effective special effects to tell his story. The screen rattles with static the morning after Jerry is electrocuted, foreshadowing his eventual destruction of the VHS tapes. Gondry's simplicity in using special effects suits the tone of the story as Mike and Jerry rely solely on their creativity, ingenuity and imagination to make their movies a success.

To shoot a Robocop parody, they attach plastic scraps, football pads and the rear lights of a car to Jerry's body to turn him into the title character. To re-make a fight scene from Rush Hour 2 in which Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker fight bad guys on a bamboo scaffolding, Jerry and Mike take to a local playground's jungle gym. Finally, to imitate the laser beams used by Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis in Ghostbusters, they attach green and red Christmas garland to poles and run around a library.

The low-budget feel to the picture gives the movie it's "feel good" factor, as Gondry's actors stay within the range of working-class citizens in small-town New Jersey. Mos Def's character is the quintessential "good guy," doing what he can to help Mr. Fletcher and the loyal customers who frequent the shop. However, he's not exempt from frustration, worry and cynicism. These traits make him the most relatable character in the movie and his relationship with the eccentric Jerry keep the audience laughing while simultaneously feeling sorry for him. Jerry is a recipe for destruction, and Mike just wants to keep the store up and running while Mr. Fletcher is out of town.

Mike and Jerry's relationship, along with their creativity and outlandishness, make Be Kind Rewind a joy to watch. Mos Def and Jack Black have a chemistry that makes their characters' "friends at heart" relationship believable and realistic. The script features Jerry spewing wacky quotes as Mike deadpans lines to express his disbelief with Jerry's borderline madness. When Jerry massacres the "Ghostbuster's Song," Mike simply responds with a blunt "No." The two characters play off each other's drastically different personalities to create hilarious situations.

Gondry's latest picture is lighter in tone and content than his famed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but it keeps the same style that made Sunshine an instant cult classic. The color and imagery in Be Kind is not as vivid and surreal as in Gondry's 2006 release, The Science of Sleep, but the director's imagination translates from his previous picture to Be Kind. There are also echoes of Gondry's 2005 release, Dave Chappele's Block Party in Be Kind Rewind, as both have a tremendous focus on community activism. All in all, Gondry maintains his reputation as an imaginary director with a flair for creativity in Be Kind Rewind. We can be sure that once it hits DVD, audiences will love to rewind the movie--- to their favorite scenes, of course.