The Daily Gamecock

Issue date: 2/25/08 Section: The Mix

Media Credit: Courtesy of The Associated Press Jack Black and Mos Def re-enact a scene from a videotape that was accidentally erased.

Director/writer Michel Gondry's movies, such as "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "The Science of Sleep," have to do with how people choose to represent the world they see. With "Be Kind Rewind," he sets his sights on the way people view movies.

Mike (Mos Def) is the creative, if scatterbrained, employee at Mr. Fletcher's (Danny Glover) shoddy VHS store in Passaic, N.J. Fletcher takes a personal trip and leaves Mike in charge. Mike's friend Jerry (Jack Black) accidentally erases the store's tapes, and he and Mike decide to re-film the entire stock with some household props, volunteers off the street and a never-say-die attitude.

The shoestring-budget remakes turn out to be hilarious parodies, including takes on "Ghostbusters," "Robocop" and "Rush Hour 2," to name a few. Even if some of the movies are unfamiliar to you, the inventive methods Mike and Jerry use are just as entertaining (go to bekindmovie.com/youtube.html for samples of their madness).

Mike and Jerry's remakes turn out to be hit rentals, especially when they get the community involved, from a cross-dressing mechanic to kids on the street who want to add guns to every scene. Their third partner in copyright crime, Alma (Melonie Diaz), joins as their lead actress and fellow video store clerk.

Gondry's script calls for eccentric but confident characters, and Def and Black are believable as inventive dorks with big ideas. He shoots Def as a reluctant, mumbling, but brilliant leader, and reins in Black before he goes over the top. Diaz turns in what may be the sexiest female role of the year, as a bold, expressive woman who's not afraid to be a "dirty punk." Together, the three of them lead an artistic tour de force, especially in a montage of homages that will spin even casual fans of film into a frenzy of laughter.

As original as the backyard cinema is, the plot is still "raise money to save the underdogs' haven." City officials want to remodel the area into a sterile design with no history. Copyright lawyers descend on Fletcher once his store becomes popular. Thankfully, the movie has a purpose to go with its limited cheese.

Alma wants people to be "stockholders of their own happiness," and that line is the heart of the movie. Fletcher's VHS store can't compare to the DVD store up the street, but the DVD store's in dire straits as well. The silver lining is that the YouTube movement can exist in any format, empowering itself creatively when the mass-market trough is out of ideas.

Original movies find their reward in being remembered and paid homage. "Be Kind Rewind" is a movie viewers will want to rewind to watch its best parts before re-imagining them on their computers.

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