Member review

Be Kind Rewind is a 2008 comedy from director Michael Gondry, The film follows the exploits of two store clerks trying to fix an issue with the tapes within the video store they work at. The film follows friends Jerry (Jack Black) and Mike (Yasiin Bey AKA Mos Def) who spend their time working at a video store run by Mr Fletcher (Danny Glover) and spreading the belief that famed musician Fats Waller was born in there town of Passaic, but after an incident with an electrical plant Jerry is left extremely magnetised and proceeds to accidently wipe every tape in Mr Fletcher’s shop. With money running short and Mr Fletcher out of town Mike comes up with an idea to save the store by “swede”ing the movies (which means to take a film and remake it with no budget and a limited cast) leading to them teaming up with the local drycleaners daughter Alma (Melonie Diaz). But what at first starts as simple plan trying to save the store and pass off a couple videos as the real deal soon becomes a big deal as people from all over town and beyond come to the store to see their favourite films get “swede”ed making the store more money than ever before and putting them in as targets for the government’s anti-piracy department and putting the business at risk. The film is very funny and at times quite dramatic I’m actually amazed it doesn’t count as a dramedy, the films they make within the film are quite funny to watch as you see some really cheap yet hilarious recreations, but with that comes an issue I have which is in a montage towards the end where you see multiple titles fly-by of films they’ve “swede”ed and some you don’t see get “swede”ed which disappoints me as I saw stuff like Freddy vs Jason and Rush Hour in there (although you do see Rush Hour 2). The Film though does have a great sense of humour and even a great sense of community in film and in real life as they used actual inhabitants of the town for background characters and side characters which makes it very nice top watch and enjoy the sense of community and togetherness especially when they all get together towards the end to help the group. In closing I think this film is a funny and interesting film that just brushes the line between Comedy and Dramedy it’s a rip off you want to watch and a comedy you want to remember.