The message of Be Kind Rewind might be nostalgic -- a yearning for the simpler days of movie-going and movie-making before the industry's conversion into a multi-billion dollar enterprise.
The death of videotapes and the growing commercialization of independent films signal the demise of an era. This message, however, belongs in a much better movie, not one that tries ardently to be both weird and normal, but isn't either.
French filmmaker Michel Gondry, the wildly inventive mind that birthed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep, falls short of expectations with his most generic and inhibited film yet.
Gondry previously has examined the interlocking elements of the real and the surreal, invoked by wacky imagery and a quirky sensibility. That's not to say that Be Kind Rewind follows convention, but its oddball undertones were not explored enough.
In the film, Mike (Mos Def) lives in and helps run Be Kind Rewind, a struggling local video store that rents out only VHS copies of films. Convinced that the power plant by the junkyard where he lives is slowly killing him, Jerry (Jack Black), Mike's deranged, deadbeat best friend, tries to sabotage the plant and somehow becomes "magnetized."
Entering Mike's shop to irritate the customers, Jerry accidentally erases every single videotape. In order to sustain the store's squabbling consumer base, the duo set out to make home video versions of the lost films as a temporary replacement.
The film dabbles in the realms of strange comedy, sentimentalist drama and elementary science fiction/fantasy, each with limited success.
The middle segment of the film, in which Jerry and Mike recreate (or, as they call it, "swede") the popular movies, is its strongest and most entertaining.
But even this peak can only feel so original -- copycatting the memorable moments of films like Ghostbusters, The Lion King and Rush Hour 2. It's a mild chuckle at best.
The conclusion is where the film becomes an affectionate and earnest tribute to independent filmmaking, abandoning the offbeat rudiments of its magnetism subplot.
The film's indistinct tone is uneven, and the cast of talented, capable actors fails to ignite chemistry, mostly playing it safe.
Be Kind Rewind now places Gondry in a category with other independent-turned-mainstream filmmakers like Richard Linklater (Waking Life, School of Rock). A pattern has been emerging among these directors, who are experimenting with more conformist fare yet still inserting touches of their trademark style.
This is all especially disappointing because the promising, energetic trailer bounced to life to the tune of the Billy Preston classic, "Nothing from Nothing."
Be Kind Rewind is a subdued dud that should not be given the courtesy of a rewind.
Grade: C
