In Continuum.

The moment I saw Michel Gondry's name tagged to this film in the trailer, I knew that I had to watch it one way or another. The genius in Michel Gondry is unbelievable, the way he can turn the most ordinary of things into cinematic gold. It has been reflected through his advertisements, his music videos, and not to mention the kind of life he injected into Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless. The Science of Sleep, while not a masterpiece in conventional standards, was definitely a pleasant film to sit through, filled with numerous surprises and smiles. That's the thing about Michel Gondry that I love, the way you never know what to expect from him. His unpredictability is like putting your hands into a bag full of candies on Halloween. You don't really know what you are going to get, and you may not even like the candy you fish out of the bag either. But there's just this excitement in his films that is so endearing, so magical for some reason. I must admit, when it comes to being a film director, Michel Gondry definitely has a long way to go. He is flawed, very flawed, but you have to applaud him for his creativity. 

With that said, Be Kind Rewind feels like yet another drawing block for Michel Gondry to paint his imaginations. The film centers around a neighborhood video rental stall called Be Kind Rewind, owned by Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover), which was about to be torn down because it failed to meet the safety requirements set by the district government. So Mr. Fletcher decided to go on a trip of sorts, to do researches on his rival video rental store that has the latest films all available in DVDs, instead of VHS like the ones in his store. He placed the shop under Mike's (Mos Def) care, with a warning written hastily on the glass window of the train carriage "Keep Jerry Out". Jerry (Jack Black) is a friend of Mike's, and he is a nuisance to everybody in the neighborhood due to his strange antics and habits. He claims that the power plant next to his house is trying to take over the world with microwave machines, and wanted Mike along with him in a mission to sabotage the transformers in the power plant. During the mission, however, Jerry accidentally got himself electrocuted and in turn, became magnetized. The next day, Jerry enters Mike's video store and accidentally erased all the contents in every tape, ruining the business and potentially destroying the trust Mr. Fletcher had on Mike. So Jerry came up with the brilliant idea of remaking the films in the store themselves, or "sweding" it according to Jerry, using little to no budget and on a prehistoric camcorder. 

In a way, Be Kind Rewind feels like a parody of all the films we grew up watching. Because Mike and Jerry had little to no budget at all, they had to come up with ingenious and creative ways to film their versions of the movies. The film spoofed a bunch of other films, everything from Ghostbusters, to Driving Miss Daisy, to 2001: A Space Odyssey, to Robocop, to Men in Black, to The Lion King... well, you get the point. It was very interesting to see how the duo pulled off various scenes from movies, how they made it almost feel like the kind if videos you'd find on YouTube. They were cheap, outrageous, and incredibly funny and creative at the same time. The length that they go to recreate the films was probably the best part of the whole movie, how they devised different ways to make the Marshmallow Man come alive from Ghostbusters, or how they shot people falling down into the streets for the 'sweded' version of Rush Hour 2. Seriously, I would have paid good money just to sit through the 'sweded' version of their films, anytime. 

Be Kind Rewind is not a perfect film, in fact it is quite a flawed one. With every hilarious scene, there were probably two others that didn't work as well as they should have. A lot of scenes had so much potential to be funny, but they were usually not executed properly or overwhelmed by Michel Gondry's urge to experiment with the material. Michel Gondry may seem to have been trying too hard to be weird and quirky at times, simply because of the reputation he has in the world of filmmaking. Certain aspects of the film gives the viewers a sense that he may have went over the top, especially the scene with the magnetized urine - seriously? However, with every dull moment of the film, I couldn't wait until Mike and Jerry move on to their next filming project, because it is a joy to see how they pull off those films, as I have mentioned. I suppose it is crucial for the viewers to have some sort of knowledge about the spoofed film prior to watching this film, because they are not going to be explained later on in the film. 

This film is targeted at the fans, not just the ones of Michel Gondry, but also at fans of movies as a whole. It was interesting to see and imagine how films must have been made in the past, or tried to be made anyway. The heart and soul poured into the films by Mike and Jerry was moving, especially the kind of dedication we saw. I don't suppose this film is going to gain a lot of critical acclaim, which is already proven on Rottentomatoes and the local critics. But still, it reminded me of why I loved watching movies in the first place, and I thought the film brought forth that point very well. This is how I see the film's structure through the pre-production process. Michel Gondry had an idea, and on top of that idea he laid the tracks for an actual story line. On top of that story line, he added his own style of quirkiness, his humor, along with a few of his trademark experiments. It may seem like a wonderful formula, but the end result is that of a hastily put together film with too much ambition at times. 

This film has a good story, a great story in fact, if you are willing to stretch the boundaries of your imaginations, and believe that it is possible for a man to be magnetized. The story is brilliant, but the execution by Michel Gondry was rough and almost amateur at times. The reason why Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind worked was because it had Michel Gondry's style of film, carefully tamed by Charlie Kaufman's wild and yet restrained screenplay. Giving the full authority over the scripting as well as the filming, Michel Gondry clearly went overboard and drew out of the edge of his drawing block and onto the table. Certain aspects of the film seemed rough, a little unpolished, and perhaps under-developed as well. The characters are rather poor, you don't exactly feel a sense of attachment to them whatsoever. It is easy to laugh at their jokes, but then I thought a large portion of the film could have been devoted to character development to make the film more engaging. The film also needed more "sweding", because that is the main focus of the story after all. They film had a lot of those, but still too little. I wanted more, but we ended up watching the faces of the audience in the video store rather than what they filmed. 

The problem with Michel Gondry is that his ambitious usually exceeds his abilities. He is bigger than his skills in directing, and there are times whereby his story becomes a little under-developed, like a baby given birth to too early. Despite those however, it is not impossible to sit through Be Kind Rewind and be delighted at the film's humor and the heartwarming scenes. Some may argue that the end of the film was a little cliched, that it was a little too Hollywood. But I thought it was sweet, very heartwarming, and a fitful end to a story that went way out of line in the best of ways. 

The cast is nothing short of eclectic, which is something you would expect from a film by Michel Gondry. He knows his cast, and placing Jack Black next to Mos Def was probably the best move of all. Jack Black's electrifying performance is debatably funny, some may beg to differ. I am a closet fan of Jack Black though, and I am not afraid to tell the world about it right now. Mos Def has this strange ability to look into the camera without any expression, and make you like that guy. His laconic presence proved to be a stark contrast to Jack Black's, but it worked on screen and carried the film very well throughout. The supporting cast was decent enough, with guest appearances by Mia Farrow and Sigourney Weaver, and they were good enough in their parts as well - I thought Charlie Kaufman was the guy working in the video rental store, but I guess I was wrong. Melonie Diaz reminded me of Pao, for some reason, and she was rather cute in the film I must say. 

At the end of the film, one is going to say that the film was quite a mess. It was, it definitely was, with all the varying styles of filming. But it was not an uninteresting mess at that, and that is probably Michel's signature. The film placed aside its frequent misfires and awkwardness quickly and dives into the essence of the film. I thought it was incredibly enjoyable, and truly a film that defined itself from all the other films in the theaters showing now. Not exactly a recommendation for me, but people should give it a shot if they feel adventurous enough. 

7.5/10