Be Kind Rewind

Two movies in two weeks I almost feel like things are getting back to normal. This weekend Tamar and I found some time to hit the theater. After checking the listings I saw some pretty shitty looking flicks out there. Between Roland Emmerich's atrocious looking 10,000 B.C., and Martin Lawrence's unbearable looking College Road Trip we decided on a more independent film. I really loved Michael Gondry's last American Feature film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind from 2004.If you've seen the trailers you were probably like me in thinking that this story takes place in the 80's. It was very strange to discover that it is a modern story about a Video store that has not discovered the virtue of DVD. The owner, Elroy Fletcher (Danny Glover), is an old soul who can't seem to make ends meet renting video tapes to the local masses. He is obsessed with an Jazz Musician that apparently grew up in the town. His attempts to buck the modern trend goes south especially when his assistant, Mike (Mos Def), unwittingly allows his conspiracy crazy friend Jerry (Jack Black) to enter the video store while magnetized. He erases every tape in the place. They decide to re-film the films that were lost starting with Ghostbusters and others like Driving Miss Daisy, Boyz in the Hood, Robo Cop, Rush Hour 2, the Lion King, etc, etc. I knew going in that it would be strange just like Eternal Sunshine but I just didn't think it was going to be boring, which unfortunately, it was for a good portion of the film. I liked their, as they called them, sweded versions of classic films, but they kind of sped through the part I thought would be most enjoyable. Instead the focused on the love of this Jazz singer that lived in town, while it was a nice sentimental piece of the film it just kind of dragged on a lot longer than it should have.I thought it was a clever and often times a very different kind of film. I like Jack Black but sometimes he and Mos Def just got on my nerves in this movie, especially when Mos Def just mumbles his way through a scene. The pacing was terribly off and it seemed a little too sentimental and even a little cheesy at times. I will say that it's still probably better than anything out right now like, as I stated above, that stupid Martin Lawrence film or that atrociously bad looking 10,000 B.C. Wooley Mammoth notwithstanding. Tamar really loved the film and I think if your looking for something different and if you are prepared for less laughs, then you may enjoy this one a little bit more than I did.

Grade: 2 Buckets