Be Kind Rewind

Last updated

Be Kind Rewind
Be Kind Rewind poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Michel Gondry
Written byMichel Gondry
Produced by
  • Michel Gondry
  • Julie Fong
  • Georges Bermann
Starring
Cinematography Ellen Kuras
Edited byJeff Buchanan
Music by
Production
company
Distributed by
Release dates
  • January 20, 2008 (2008-01-20)(Sundance)
  • February 15, 2008 (2008-02-15)(United Kingdom)
  • February 22, 2008 (2008-02-22)(United States)
  • March 5, 2008 (2008-03-05)(France)
Running time
98 minutes [3]
Countries
  • United Kingdom
  • France
  • United States [2]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20 million [4]
Box office$30.6 million [5]

Be Kind Rewind is a 2008 buddy comedy film written and directed by Michel Gondry and starring Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow, and Melonie Diaz with supporting roles done by Chandler Parker, Irv Gooch, Arjay Smith, Marcus Carl Franklin, Blake Hightower, and Amir Ali Said. It tells the story of an employee at the titular VHS rental store and his conspiracy theorist friend who work to recreate the rental store's film inventory after they were accidentally erased when the latter got himself magnetized while the proprietor was away. The film first appeared on January 20, 2008 at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. It was later shown at the Berlin International Film Festival. The film opened on February 22, 2008 in the United Kingdom and in North America.

Contents

The title is inspired by a phrase that was commonly displayed on video rental cassettes in America during the medium's heyday. [6]

The film was met with mixed reviews.

Plot

In Passaic, New Jersey, Elroy Fletcher owns the declining "Be Kind Rewind" VHS rental store. Despite Fletcher's claims that jazz pianist Fats Waller was born there, the building is condemned as a slum and the officials led by Mr. Baker give him 60 days to upgrade it to the required standards or they will demolish it to make way for high-end development.

Fletcher leaves on a trip with friends to memorialize Waller and visit rental store chains to research efficient and modernized ways of running one, leaving his only employee Mike to work alone. Before leaving, Fletcher cautions Mike to keep his conspiracy theorist friend Jerry away from the store. However, Mike misinterprets his warnings on the train window and is left confused.

After attempting to sabotage an electrical substation, believing its energy to be melting his brain, Jerry receives a shock which leaves him magnetized. When entering the store the next day, he inadvertently erases all its VHS tapes. Mike discovers the disaster and is further pressed when Fletcher's acquaintance Miss Falewicz wants to rent Ghostbusters . To prevent her from reporting a problem to Fletcher, Mike comes up with an idea: as Miss Falewicz has never seen the movie, he proposes to recreate the film with cheap special effects, using himself and Jerry as the actors and hoping to fool her. They complete the movie just in time when a customer named Jack arrives asking for Rush Hour 2 . Mike and Jerry repeat their filming, enlisting the help of a local girl named Alma for some of the parts. She later makes Jerry a remedy that demagnetizes him at the cost of him vomiting and emitting magnetic urine.

Word of mouth spreads through Miss Falewicz's nephew Craig and his gang of the inadvertently hilarious results of Mike and Jerry's filming of Ghostbusters and soon the store is seeing more requests for such movies. Mike, Jerry, and Alma pretend the films came from Sweden to demand long wait times and higher costs for the rental ($20 instead of $1). To meet demand, they enlist the locals to help out in making the movies, using them as actors in their films. When Fletcher returns intent on converting the store to a DVD rental outlet, he recognizes that they are making more money from the "sweded" films than from normal rentals after learning about what happened and joins in with the process.

However, the success is put to a halt when government attorney Ms. Lawson arrives with two federal agents. Ms. Lawson insists the "sweded" films are copyright violations. They seize the store's tapes which they destroy with help from a steamroller operator much to the dismay of the locals and seize the assets to pay off the respectful studios. As a result, Fletcher gives up hope and reveals to Mike that he made up the connection of Fats Waller to the building. Fletcher is given a week to evacuate it before its demolition.

With the help of the locals, Jerry and Alma convince Fletcher and Mike to give one last hurrah and put together a documentary dedicated to the alternate history of Fats Waller. They create Fats Waller Was Born Here.

On the day the building is scheduled for demolition, Fletcher invites all the locals to watch the final film and quietly reveals to Miss Falewicz that he gave Mr. Baker permission to go ahead with the demolition plans after the film ends. When Jerry accidentally breaks the store's TV screen trying to raise it for all to see, a nearby DVD store owner loans them his video projector, allowing them to show the movie on a cloth placed in the store's window. As their film ends, Fletcher, Mike and Jerry exit the store to find a larger crowd has gathered in the street to watch the film through the window including the wrecking crew as Mr. Baker has an inaudible dialogue with Fletcher. They are applauded by the gathered crowd.

Cast

Melonie Diaz introducing the film at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2008 Melonie Diaz.jpg
Melonie Diaz introducing the film at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2008

Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Jimmy Scott and McCoy Tyner appear as Fats Waller fans in a scene cut from the theatrical release, but restored for the DVD.

"Sweded"

Films that were erased and recreated are referred to as having been sweded. These remakes are unedited with only a single take per scene. The tapes are described as having come from Sweden as an excuse for higher rental fees and longer wait times. Jerry fabricates the word "sweded" while arguing with Craig (Chandler Parker) and his gang.

In light of the theme of sweding, director Michel Gondry sweded a version of the trailer of the film, starring himself. On the official website, users could engage in sweding, which puts their faces on the VHS cover of a movie. [7] The Be Kind Rewind YouTube channel also encourages filmmakers to create sweded versions of popular movies. [8] A Sweded Film Festival launched in 2016 to showcase fanmade sweded films. [9]

The theme of sweding also relates to film history, in that the collectively made remakes represent social memories of films, and memories that arise through films. [10]

A disclaimer during the credits stated that Mike and Jerry's Sweded films can be seen at www.bekindrewind-themovie.com. The official website is no longer in operation and now links to viruses.

Reception

Box office

In its opening weekend, the film earned $4 million in 808 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking No. 9 at the box office, and averaging $5,013 per theater. [11] As of September 21, 2008, the film had grossed $30.4 million worldwide—an estimated $11 million in the United States and Canada and $19 million in other territories. [12]

Reception

Be Kind Rewind has received mixed reviews, with review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reporting that 65% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 128 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Slighter and less disciplined than Gondry's previous mind-benders." [13] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 52 out of 100, based on 35 reviews. [14]

Writing in The New York Times , reviewer A. O. Scott called the film "inviting, undemanding and altogether wonderful" and added that "you'll want to see it again, or at least Swede it yourself." [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fats Waller</span> American jazz pianist and composer (1904–1943)

Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, and singer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz piano. A widely popular star in the jazz and swing eras, he toured internationally, achieving critical and commercial success in the United States and Europe. His best-known compositions, "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Honeysuckle Rose", were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1984 and 1999.

<i>Ghost</i> (1990 film) Film by Jerry Zucker

Ghost is a 1990 American supernatural romance film directed by Jerry Zucker from a screenplay by Bruce Joel Rubin, and starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Goldwyn, Vincent Schiavelli, and Rick Aviles. It focuses on Sam Wheat (Swayze), a murdered banker, whose ghost sets out to save his girlfriend, Molly Jensen (Moore), from the person who killed him – through the help of the psychic Oda Mae Brown (Goldberg).

<i>Fargo</i> (1996 film) 1996 film

Fargo is a 1996 black comedy crime film written, directed, produced and edited by Joel and Ethan Coen. Frances McDormand stars as Marge Gunderson, a pregnant Minnesota police chief investigating a triple homicide that takes place after a desperate car salesman hires two criminals to kidnap his wife in order to extort a hefty ransom from her wealthy father. The film was an American and British co-production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Video rental shop</span> Physical retail business that rents home videos

A video rental shop/store is a physical retail business that rents home videos such as movies, prerecorded TV shows, video game discs and other media content. Typically, a rental shop conducts business with customers under conditions and terms agreed upon in a rental agreement or contract, which may be implied, explicit, or written. Many video rental stores also sell previously viewed movies and/or new, unopened movies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pixilation</span> Type of animation using live actors

Pixilation is a stop motion technique in which live actors are used as a frame-by-frame subject in an animated film, by repeatedly posing while one or more frame is taken and changing pose slightly before the next frame or frames. The actor becomes a kind of living stop-motion puppet. This technique is often used as a way to blend live actors with animated ones in a movie, such as in The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb by the Bolex Brothers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michel Gondry</span> French film director (born 1963)

Michel Gondry is a French filmmaker noted for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène. Along with Charlie Kaufman, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as one of the writers of the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which he also directed.

<i>Liar Liar</i> 1997 American fantasy comedy film by Tom Shadyac

Liar Liar is a 1997 American fantasy comedy film directed by Tom Shadyac and written by Paul Guay and Stephen Mazur. It stars Jim Carrey as a lawyer who built his entire career on lying but finds himself cursed to speak only the truth for a single day, during which he struggles to maintain his career and to reconcile with his ex-wife and son whom he alienated with his pathological lying.

<i>Heavyweights</i> 1995 film by Steven Brill

Heavyweights is a 1995 American comedy film directed by Steven Brill and written by Brill with Judd Apatow, and starring Tom McGowan, Aaron Schwartz, Shaun Weiss, Tom Hodges, Leah Lail, Paul Feig, Kenan Thompson, David Bowe, Max Goldblatt, Robert Zalkind, Patrick LaBrecque, Jeffrey Tambor, Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, and Ben Stiller. The film follows a fat camp for kids that is taken over by a fitness entrepreneur as its campers work to overthrow him.

<i>Lovers and Other Strangers</i> 1970 film by Cy Howard

Lovers and Other Strangers is a 1970 American romantic comedy film directed by Cy Howard, adapted from the 1968 Broadway play of the same name by Renée Taylor and Joseph Bologna. The cast includes Richard S. Castellano, Gig Young, Cloris Leachman, Anne Jackson, Bea Arthur, Bonnie Bedelia, Michael Brandon, Harry Guardino, Anne Meara, Bob Dishy, Marian Hailey, Joseph Hindy, and, in her film debut, Diane Keaton. Sylvester Stallone was an extra in this movie.

<i>Tom and Jerry: The Movie</i> 1992 American animated film

Tom and Jerry: The Movie is a 1992 American animated musical comedy film based on the characters Tom and Jerry created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. It was produced and directed by Phil Roman, with a screenplay written by Dennis Marks, who also scripted some episodes of the then-airing Tom & Jerry Kids television series. The film stars the voices of Richard Kind, Dana Hill, Anndi McAfee, Tony Jay, Rip Taylor, Henry Gibson, Michael Bell, Ed Gilbert, David L. Lander, Howard Morris, and Charlotte Rae.

<i>Hairspray</i> (1988 film) 1988 film by John Waters

Hairspray is a 1988 American comedy film written and directed by John Waters, starring Sonny Bono, Ruth Brown, Divine, Debbie Harry, Ricki Lake in her film debut, and Jerry Stiller, with special appearances by Ric Ocasek in his final film and Pia Zadora. Hairspray was a dramatic departure from Waters's earlier works, with a much broader intended audience. Hairspray's PG is the least restrictive rating a Waters film has received; most of his previous films were rated X by the MPAA. Set in 1962 Baltimore, Maryland, the film revolves around self-proclaimed "pleasantly plump" teenager Tracy Turnblad as she pursues stardom as a dancer on a local TV show and rallies against racial segregation.

<i>Action Jackson</i> (1988 film) 1988 film by Craig R. Baxley

Action Jackson is a 1988 American action film directed by Craig R. Baxley, starring Carl Weathers, Vanity, Sharon Stone and Craig T. Nelson. Weathers stars as Jericho "Action" Jackson, a Detroit Police detective investigating a corrupt auto magnate (Nelson). The film was released in the United States by Lorimar Film Entertainment on February 12, 1988. It received mostly negative reviews, but was a minor box office success.

<i>Herbie Goes Bananas</i> 1980 film directed by Vincent McEveety

Herbie Goes Bananas is a 1980 American adventure comedy film directed by Vincent McEveety and written by Don Tait. The film is the fourth installment in the Herbie film series and the sequel to Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977).

<i>The Benchwarmers</i> 2006 American film

The Benchwarmers is a 2006 American sports-comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, written by Allen Covert and Nick Swardson, and produced by Adam Sandler and Jack Giarraputo. The film stars Rob Schneider, David Spade, Jon Heder, Jon Lovitz, Craig Kilborn, Molly Sims, and Tim Meadows, with Swardson, Erinn Bartlett, Amaury Nolasco, Bill Romanowski, Sean Salisbury, Matt Weinberg, John Farley, Reggie Jackson, and Joe Gnoffo in supporting roles. It tells the story of three nerds and a billionaire forming the titular baseball team to take on the little league baseball teams.

<i>Three OClock High</i> 1987 film by Phil Joanou

Three O'Clock High is a 1987 American teen comedy film directed by Phil Joanou. The script, about a meek high schooler who is forced into a fight with an unstable new transfer student, is based on the high school experiences of screenwriters Richard Christian Matheson and Thomas Szollosi. It was shot in Ogden, Utah.

<i>Lionheart</i> (1987 film) 1987 adventure film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner

Lionheart, also known as Lionheart: The Children's Crusade, is a 1987 adventure film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and produced by Talia Shire and Stanley O'Toole. Shire's brother, Francis Ford Coppola, initially planned to direct the film but instead opted to be executive producer along with Shire's husband, Jack Schwartzman. The screenplay was written by Menno Meyjes and Richard Outten from a story by Meyjes. The composer Jerry Goldsmith wrote the score. The film was released in August 1987. It was distributed by Orion Pictures.

<i>Barneys Great Adventure</i> 1998 American film directed by Steve Gomer

Barney's Great Adventure is a 1998 musical comedy adventure film based on the children's television series Barney & Friends, featuring Barney the Dinosaur in his first feature-length film. The plot follows Barney, along with three young children named Cody, Abby, and Marcella, as they discover a magical egg in a barn. After learning that the egg is a dream maker, Barney and the gang must return the egg to the barn before it hatches. The film was written by Stephen White, directed by Steve Gomer, produced by Sheryl Leach and Lyrick Studios and released by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment on March 27, 1998, at Radio City Music Hall in New York and worldwide on April 3, 1998, in the United States and Canada at the height of Barney's popularity.

<i>Hello, Dolly!</i> (film) 1969 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Gene Kelly

Hello, Dolly! is a 1969 American musical romantic comedy film based on the 1964 Broadway production of the same name, which was based on Thornton Wilder's play The Matchmaker. Directed by Gene Kelly and written and produced by Ernest Lehman, the film stars Barbra Streisand, Walter Matthau, Michael Crawford, Danny Lockin, Tommy Tune, Fritz Feld, Marianne McAndrew, E. J. Peaker and Louis Armstrong. The film follows the story of Dolly Levi, a strong-willed matchmaker who travels to Yonkers, New York in order to find a match for the miserly "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder. In doing so, she convinces his niece, his niece's intended and Horace's two clerks to travel to New York.

<i>Fireproof</i> (film) 2008 American film

Fireproof is a 2008 American Christian drama film released by Samuel Goldwyn Films and Affirm Films, directed by Alex Kendrick, who co-wrote and co-produced it with Stephen Kendrick. The film stars Kirk Cameron, Erin Bethea, and Ken Bevel.

<i>Happy Feet Two</i> 2011 animated film by George Miller

Happy Feet Two is a 2011 animated jukebox musical comedy film directed, produced and co-written by George Miller. It is the sequel to the 2006 film Happy Feet starring Elijah Wood, Robin Williams in his final animated feature, Hank Azaria, Alecia Moore (P!nk), Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Sofia Vergara, Common, Hugo Weaving, Richard Carter, Magda Szubanski and Anthony LaPaglia. Wood, Williams, Weaving, Szubanski and LaPaglia reprised their roles with Moore and Common replacing the late Brittany Murphy, and Fat Joe respectively. In addition, E.G. Daily also returned in different roles. In the film, Erik, the son of Mumble (Wood) and Gloria (Moore) who is reluctant to dance, runs away from home and encounters the Mighty Sven (Azaria), a tufted puffin. When the penguins are trapped by a giant wall of ice and snow, they must save Antarctica.

References

  1. 1 2 "'Be Kind Rewind' to New Line". May 17, 2006.
  2. 1 2 "Be Kind Rewind (BFI)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 8, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  3. ↑ "BE KIND REWIND (12)". British Board of Film Classification . Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  4. ↑ Be Kind Rewind – Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information – The Numbers
  5. ↑ "Be Kind, Rewind (2008)". Box Office Mojo. May 1, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
  6. ↑ Deadbolt Interview with Jack Black Archived July 20, 2011, at archive.today
  7. ↑ Matheson, Whitney. USA Today . Web watch. Life section, page 3D. December 11, 2007
  8. ↑ YouTube – BeKindMovie's Channel
  9. ↑ Sachs, Ethan (January 31, 2021). "Homemade remakes of cinematic classics star in Sweded Film Festival". NBC News . Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  10. ↑ Retrieved on July 5, 2009 Kerr, John Finlay (2009) "‘Rereading’ Be Kind Rewind (USA 2008): How film history can be remapped through the social memories of popular culture", Screening the past, Issue 24
  11. ↑ "Be Kind, Rewind (2008) – Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved May 28, 2008.
  12. ↑ "Be Kind, Rewind (2008)". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved May 28, 2008.
  13. ↑ "Be Kind Rewind – Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on February 24, 2008. Retrieved February 22, 2008.
  14. ↑ "Be Kind Rewind (2008): Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on February 18, 2008. Retrieved February 22, 2008.
  15. ↑ "Times review". Archived from the original on June 23, 2012. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.