Be Kind Rewind

Be Kind Rewind. Pretty ingenious title for Michel Gondry’s latest venture on the big screen. The film is intentionally lo-fi in almost every sense, from performance to production values. And it works wonderfully. Mike and Jerry (Mos Def and Jack Black) are two Passaic, New Jersey losers. Mike is left to look after Mr. Fletcher’s shabby still-in-VHS format videostore with explicit instruction to not let the avant-garde mechanic/tinkerer Jerry into the store.

Of course, Jerry walks into the store but only after he has been magnetized at a power plant. In his now microwaving form, he walks into the video store and wipes every video clean. And so Mike and Jerry decide to reenact their own versions of a whole range of films by "Sweding" them. The Sweded versions of everything from Robocop to Driving Miss Daisy take off and the lines outside their store even see someone from New York City. All goes swimmingly until Sweding is caught for copyright infringement.

The film is a lackdaisacal and unfettered ode to the love of movies, and links the analog/beta with the digital in a most charming way. Great fun, you’ll want to start Sweding too using all the cardboard you can find, and the kitchen sink.

Cast Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow Director Michel Gondry Runtime 101 mins Opens 20 March

Text Priya Narayanan