Be Kind Rewind Review

Before I begin the review I have to pick on the film's title, which is really annoying me. It doesn't have adequate punctuation at all. At the very least there should be a comma between the word "Kind" and the word "Rewind", although a semi-colon would seem most appropriate. I know this isn't exactly relevant to the film or anything but I just had to get that off my chest. I'm done now. On with the review.

Be Kind Rewind is the fourth film directed by Michel Gondry of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind fame and this is by far the nicest thing I have to say about it. It stars Jack Black (Kung Fu Panda, Tenacious D and The Pick of Destiny and School of Rock) and Mos Def (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Woodsman and The Italian Job) the combination of which is exactly as annoying as it sounds. I'm the first to admit that I am massively opposed to Jack Black's career (with the exception of Kung Fu Panda) and that it is entirely a matter of personal opinion when I say that is performance is devoid of any comedic or artistic value. That's not going to stop me saying it though.

You should know enough about Black by now to anticipate exactly how he's going to act in this film and I going to assume that you also know whether you enjoy it or not by now, Mos Def on the other hand is somewhat of an enigma. Although he has provided both excellent comic (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) and dramatic (The Woodsman) performances in the past, in Be Kind Rewind his talents seem wasted. Whether it's down to an appalling stupid script (gimme a minute I'm getting there) or the inappropriate casting of Def as a straight man for Black (no-one should ever have to be a straight man for Black. Not now, not ever) his performance simply seems weak and I was having trouble finding him to be either amusing or interesting.

The plot and script are poorly conceived and appallingly executed. Jokes begin, mill around for a while and forget to have a punchline , very few (if any) plot issues get resolved and the entire film is proven to be entirely pointless at least five times. For the sake of example: the entire film's plot is built around the premise that Black and Def need to raise $60,000 in order to save the video store which Def works at. Although the shop will be relocated free of charge to a place where it would make more money (plot hole!) Def's character isn't happy with this as it would mean moving out of the building where his hero, Jazz musician "Fats" Waller was born. Later on in the film it turns out "Fats" was not born in the shop, rendering the entire film ENTIRELY POINTLESS! This is completely ignored by the script. I'm not going to ruin anything else, partially because I'm not allowed to under the critic oath but mainly because I can't. Nothing is resolved, the romance sub-plot is implied but never explored, the motivation behind most of the character' actions is hazy at best and the entire film is left completely open for interpretation at the end. People do not go to see comedies starring Jack Black in order to think!

I realize that I haven't even mentioned the film's main drawing power: the remakes. To put it simply, they aren't funny and you can find similar things on YouTube for free. What could have been an excellent opportunity for parody, either of the films being remade or the YouTube generation as a whole is completely wasted.

I appreciate Gondry trying, and given the premise and script for this film, the direction is as good as it can be (disregarding one infuriating moment at the end of the film). Fans of Gondry's unique visual style won't be disappointed and his use of music is -acceptable-.

Overall, the film is like so many comedies these days (oddly Jack Black stars in most): it has an interesting premise but failed to deliver due to an appalling script, over the top and/or redundant acting and unsatisfactory resolution. It is somewhat saved by Gondry's direction but sadly fails to overcome it's most glaring issue, Jack Bla- I mean bad scripting.

4/10