Leave it MICHEL GONDRY (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) to come up something this crazy and outlandish, but yet make it funny and endearing. Yes, BE KIND, REWIND indeed was a surprise for me, cause at first glance at the trailer I immediately thought garbage, a waste of time. So, I was wrong... well, for the most part! Not Gondry's best work to date but it does deserve it's due attention and is worth watching.

So how can a movie with a story line as ridiculous as this one be good? Here's the set-up: When a comical loser accidentaly erasas all the videos at the video store his best friend works at, the two set out to re-create these films by re-filming every video in the store. Sounds kind of dumb, right. But in the hands of another director, it would probably be just that. And then add JACK BLACK to the mix and a surprising MOS DEF, well, you actually get something entertaining and fun. The film starts off slow and doesn't grab your attention and you start to think, "Damn, I knew I should of rented Fool's Gold". But about 30 minutes into it, you begin to sit up and the cinematic ride begins. How Gondry thought up the ways for these two guys to film these movies is scary smart. They're funny, stupid, clever and imaginative. Yes, what they film obviously resembles nothing of the original film, never was intended to be, obviously. But it just goes to show you just what you can do with no money, a cheap home video camera and some imagination and drive. But what makes the film even funnier is the fact that the people who live in the area love the films and want more of them. You have to laugh at it, especially when they re-create "Ghostbusters" and "Driving Miss Daisy" cause it's just so outlandish, which in retrospect is the endearing part of it all. They believe what they're doing is good and the people have a demand for it. Whether the re-creations are good or bad is not the point. The message in the film is about belief, community, support and the balls to just go out and do something that seems intangible. 

BE KIND, REWIND takes some time to get into, but it's worth the wait to see these two knuckle heads go out do the things they do. And in the end, you'll be glad you didn't rent Fool's Gold!

This film is rated PG-13 for some sexual references.

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