A loose theme connecting Michel Gondry’s most recent films, The Science of Sleep and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, was the mind’s innate capacity for filing away strange items.
That fascination is re-awakened in Gondry’s typically-eccentric latest. But where his prior efforts focused on love and dreams, Be Kind Rewind concerns itself with our penchant for cinematic memorabilia.
Be Kind Rewind is an old-fashioned video shop in small town Passaic, New Jersey, which is struggling against the DVD tide and a demolition order from the local council. Owner Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover, doing his shuffling, spiky old man act), has dubious help from his adopted son, Mike (Mos Def), and mechanic-cum-local anarchist Jerry (Jack Black).
These facts are laboriously established during a drab start too full of flat jokes and narrative inertia. But the moment Mr. Fletcher leaves town, leaving Mike to man the store, a zany hell breaks loose, one much more redolent of Gondry’s colourful imagination.
Attempting to sabotage the local power station as a political protest, Jerry renders himself magnetic. Not versed in the intricacies of bandwidths and waveforms, he then unwittingly erases all of Be Kind Rewind’s videos.
Fearing their boss’ wrath, Mike and Jerry stumble upon the idea of ‘sweding’ their catalogue, which involves filming charmingly amateur 20-minute ‘remakes’ of popular films on a hand-held video-camera using two actors (one Jerry) and whatever props, costumes and effects come to hand. Before long most of Passaic (including Mia Farrow) are besieging the store, demanding their favourite films get the slapstick treatment.
The laughs now come in a hurry. It’s impossible not to smile as an enthused Jerry skulks after spectres (a.k.a. feather dusters), puts on his best Jackie Chan accent and chats up his chauffeur (Mike), á la Driving Miss Daisy. Xeroxed cars flash past and papier-mâché animals roam the streets.
Gondry’s film is less a pastiche than a homage – instantly recognisable characters are irreverently aped and famous scenes fondly redrawn. Recognise them and you’ll enjoy the cover versions.
Black remains an acquired taste, although he’s at his most bearable and least boisterous here, hamming it up with ridiculous and very funny interpretations of classic celluloid characters. Def’s mumbles are harder to understand than his normal gangsta raps, but Farrow is charmingly dappy as a loyal local. Sigourney Weaver offers a sharper edge, appearing briefly as a nasty Hollywood exec bidding to spoil everyone’s fun.
Perhaps the best thing about Be Kind Rewind is its irresistible insistence on the joy of cinema, and the postulation that every Tom, Mike or Jerry can easily take up film-making. Every part of the process is enjoyed here – from casting and shooting to premieres in darkened rooms – and, with all zealously involved, a whole community is effectively reborn.
Gondry’s movie may struggle to have that effect on its audiences, but it should certainly decorate the lives of its viewers.
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