Good movies compel us with memorable performances and cinematography. Even a bad movie can entertain us. What I have no tolerance for is a movie that gives up on or lacks altogether a plot. Gaps in a story and questions left unanswered eat away at my patience. What’s even worse is when the directing style, genre and cinematography all clash and never seem to get on the same page. I become annoyed with hiccups in a film and are soon consumed by them to the point of not enjoying the $6.50 investment in my Friday night.
Be Kind Rewind is one of those films. I went into this one with high hopes and great anticipation. How could it miss? It mixes the comedic talent of Jack Black with the directorial genius of Michael Gondry. I cannot begin to tell you how wrong I was.
Long story short, Jack Black’s character destroys all the tapes in a run-down rental store and must save the day with store employee, played by Mos Def. If they fail, the store will be demolished and a historic community will be forever-changed by new condos and shops set to be built.
Now I will give some credit to the makers of this film. There are several great comedic moments as well as some very clever ideas. Watching Black and Def recreate several classic flicks that I grew up on using an old VHS clunk-camcorder was, at times, brilliant. Interlaced with the stupid comedy was also a (would-be) touching story of a pioneer music figure in the community, presenting itself sporadically through montage. In addition, you have a few big name stars to fill out the lineup.
About midway through BKR, however, it almost seemed like the writers just stopped working on this one, leaving the task of sorting everything out up to monkeys or perhaps West Virginians. We lose most of the comedy as well as any understanding of how was got from A to B. Part of the problem is there is too much of an attempt to be unique and groundbreaking while shooting a goofy laugher. In the end, the wrong elements were brought together and this turned out to be one big experimental disaster…A wrongful attempt to capture white comedy while pushing historic urban culture. I cannot imagine even having stayed for the entirety of the film if Jack Black was not in it.
With several unique cinematic notches on his bedpost, namely Eternal Sunshine, I am at a loss for words. There were too many conflicting styles in this one to really pin it down and analyze it. Based on the feeling I had leaving the theatre, regretting a wasted weekend night, I have to say this one may go down in history as one of the top five worst movies I have seen on the silver screen.
Content above Quality. Story above Shock-value. Write that down, Gondry
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