Be Kind Rewind

This cheap, poorly-made turkey garnered much better reviews than it deserved, thanks to the cool cachet of writer-director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). Mos Def and Jack Black play Mike and Jerry, respectively, who mind a shabby little video-rental store for its vacationing owner (Danny Glover in a thankless role). When Jerry's body becomes magnetized after he breaks into the local power station (bent on eco-sabotage), he accidentally bulk erases the VHS tape collection just by walking past the videos. When a loyal but mildly senile customer (Mia Farrow, also wasted) wanders in looking for Ghostbusters, the guys stall her and then set out to remake the film themselves with a clunky old camcorder, believing that she'll never know the difference. As the pair continue grinding out zero-budget remakes of popular films to satisfy patrons, their homemade epics eventually achieve cult status, resulting in money rolling into the rundown store. A cute idea on paper, but you can see similar “remakes” any day of the week on YouTube, made by brighter and more creative high-school kids. An anachronistic film (what video store still rents VHS tapes?), briefly buoyed by a few genuinely funny gags, this is not a necessary purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include both widescreen and full screen versions of the film, a 10-minute “Passaic Mosaic” behind-the-scenes location featurette, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a 33-minute “making-of” featurette, the “Complete Fats Waller Biopic” (12 min.), “Booker T and the Michel Gondry” behind-the-scenes featurette (7 min.), an interview with costar Jack Black and writer-director Michel Gondry (6 min.), a musical tribute to Fats Waller (6 min.) with costar Mos Def, Gondry, and composer Jean-Michel Bernard, and a “Jack Black and Mos Def Improvise ‘Sweded' Theme Songs” segment (5 min.). Bottom line: it's always nice to have a two-fer (full screen and widescreen versions) on the same disc, although the film itself is a disappointment.] (E. Hulse)