Writer-director Michael Gondry is certainly a man with an almost boundless imagination. After all, this is the man who directed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and brought us The Science of Sleep. Be Kind Rewind is not in the same league as either of those films, but it does have its inspired moments of lunacy.
The plot follows Mike (Mos Def) left in charge of the local video store only for his friend Jerry (Jack Black), who has become magnetised following a freak accident whilst sabotaging the local power plant, to wipe all the tapes. Rather than replacing them, the pair decide to shoot the films themselves, in doing so bringing their community together, etc... And yes there are strong elements of that old standard plot about a community uniting to save the store from the evil developers who want to rip everything down and the sentimentality comes pretty thick at the end.
The cast is strong - with supporting turns from the likes of Danny Glover, Mia Farrow and a blink and you'll miss it cameo from Sigourney Weaver. The leads aren't bad - Mos Def borders on the too whiny at times and Jack Black is in full manic mode, but given the overall lunacy of the plot, its more appropriate and watchable than he's been for a while. The film also takes its time to get going and slides into sentimentality at the end, but really hits its stride in the middle stages where the films are being re-shot, often hilariously. As one reviewer put it, you'd probably rather watch their version of Rush Hour 2 than the real thing. Disappointingly, some of the more intriguing ideas are only hinted at - I'd love to see Jack Black doing a twenty minute vesion of Lord of the Rings.
Overall - 3/5. It is a bit messy with too many ideas going in different directions, but at times its very funny and inspired in its lunacy.
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