REVIEW: Be Kind Rewind0

Just came home from seeing “Be Kind Rewind”, which just premiered here in Sweden (unsurprisingly, several months after it’s US release). As often, I can’t promise there not to be any spoilers in the following review, but I’ll try to steer clear of them!

I’m not going to lie, I was pretty pumped up to go see this film. After having watched pretty much all of the trailers and TV spots for it, including some of the amazing fake “Sweded” trailers and films found on the film’s website. Now with a surprising lack of homework in school, I decided to go see a film, and after reading the American reviews a few months ago, I somehow had forgot about the whole film. Well, after reading the newspaper I quickly got on the internet and reserved my ticket to go see it. Well, could it live up to it’s pretty fantastic premise and cool idea? Continue reading to find out!

The story is about two friends, Jerry (played by Jack Black) and Mike (played by Mos Def, who I last saw in “16 Blocks”, with Bruce Willis) who both are left in charge of a video-store when Mike’s boss, Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover), goes on a trip. Shortly therafter following a completely hilarious and failed attempt to sabotage the neighbourhood’s power plant by Jerry, Jerry becomes magnetized, which results in all of the video store’s VHS tapes to be wiped clean. When customers start piling up returning blank videos, Mike and Jerry suddenly realise that their only way to keep the store running is to re-make the films in their own way. Before you know it, their “sweded” version of “Ghostbusters” is in the can, which ranks whily highly among the small neighbourhood. More and more people starts to get involved, in soon enough, Mike and Jerry have their own little filmmaking industry going on. But all is not sunshine though, when one day, the FBI anti-piracy team knocks on the door…Right from the get-go I absolutely loved this film, and the trailers (while great) still don’t really do it justice. I pretty much laughed my way throughout the whole film – the best parts being a cool camoflage technique, and the making of Jerry’s and Mike’s sweded films. I would seriously pay for some of the stuff they manage to make on the low budget they’re on, as it’s all very funny and ingenuitive. Director Michel Gondry really seems to be a big fan of films and filmmaking in general, as his effort really shines through on the big screen. It’s pretty much one of the better comedies I’ve seen. Ever.

Jack Black is hilarious as Jerry, a very surreal character which I think he plays perfectly, with spot-on comedic timing. It’s great to see Mos Def in a film and role that’s so different from “16 Blocks”, where he pretty much played a convict who perhaps was slightly behind when it comes to figuring out stuff. I think both of their careers are just starting, and I sure hope to see them together again in a future film.

The cinematography and visual effects are not really distracting when it comes to the main film itself, but the sweded films have some really interesting ideas – especially the “Men in Black” and “2001 – A Space Odyssey” remakes contain some very interesting and low-budgety cameramoves, that just work perfectly and draw you into the films. There’s pretty much no visual effects in the entire film, aside from a pretty cool looking sequence at the beginning of the film. All effects in the sweded films are practical, really inspiring as a filmmaker to see, and enormously funny. I also loved the way that shortly after Jerry’s magnetization, the film itself stutters and goes a bit out-of-order. A really nice idea, that certainly wasn’t neccessary, but just adds that special extra layer to the film!

The film has some great music, although most of it is recycled from old film scores from “Ghostbusters”, “Rush Hour 2″ and many more. I found one of the themes that play during the larger filmmaking scenes to be really memorable. The sound effects are cool, with small static noises humming from time to time present when Jerry is on screen.

By now, you’ve probably figured out that I pretty much loved this film. It’s in my eyes a great film for anyone remotely interested in films and/or making them. It’s just filled with creativity and a do-it-yourself mentality that I find really inspiring. I can’t wait to see Gondry’s next film! It’s pretty much on top of my list of the best films so far of 2008, and I’m sure it’ll appear somewhere on the top 10 when I round out this year’s films. I shouldn’t say too much though, as it’s only April and there are already several films (Indy 4 and Iron Man jump to mind) that I really look forward too. But, if you’re a fan of comedies and/or filmmaking, see this film. Right now. Then make the sweded version of it!

Verdict: 10 out of 10

Other stuff: Trailer – Official Website