The art of derivation

The movie “Be Kind Rewind” is all about the extraordinary capacity for success possessed by the seemingly simple masses. It celebrates amateur production and perpetuates the idea that entertainment should be public domain. Despite being released by a major studio, the film is the anthem of the ordinary and a rejection of the corporatization of pop culture. The fantastical premise paints a picture of how the entertainment industry should be democratized and less profit-driven. Gondry’s message echoes the fight started by the Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique: that existing medium should be allowed to be adapted and used by the fans.

The film is set in intentionally bland Passaic, NJ, and centers on two of the town’s more peculiar inhabitants: the ornery oddball Jerry (Jack Black) and good-intentioned Mike (Mos Def). Mike works in a video store that refuses to switch medium to the DVD and still rents only VHS at the insistence of the store’s owner, Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover). When Mr. Fletcher leaves town for a trip, he entrusts his store to Mike with one piece of advice: don’t let Jerry in the store. But after a failed sabotage on a power plant, Jerry returns magnetized, which causes the entire store’s stock to be erased. In order to keep the struggling business afloat, Mike and Jerry begin remaking the films (including “Ghostbusters,” “RoboCop,” “Boyz n the Hood,” etc.) in the store one by one.

It is the perfect family film filled with innocent, good humor. Mike and Jerry are almost overly ordinary and have a childish quality about them. Despite the existing audience’s propensity (and the intentional efforts of the filmmaker) for identifying with a story’s protagonist, I can’t help but feel that I found myself too often laughing at Mike and Jerry, not with them. Gondry’s script is a little too exaggerated and his attempts at emotional impact a little too superfluous. He is an incredibly talented director, but his script falls a bit short in this movie. The film virtually becomes exactly what it is parodying: an overly produced Hollywood movie that celebrates the triumph of a small town. In the end, however, Michel Gondry is the master of surreal imagery and innovative production making this movie ultimately entertaining.

The only extra material on the DVD was a “behind the scenes” featurette that glossed over the processes of production. It would have been nice with such an accomplished cast and such an innovative director as Gondry to listen to a commentary track, but alas there was none.