Be Kind Rewind

I went to see Be Kind Rewind last night with my movie buddy, Peter. Ever since I saw the trailer, I've been eagerly anticipating this movie. I like Michel Gondry's offbeat style, I like Jack Black and Mos Def, and the story sounded especially appealing since 1) I once worked in a movie theater, where, like the guys in the film that work in a video store, you get to know movies way too well for your own good, and 2) my friends and I used to make our own little no-budget movies for years, sometimes with the participation of our friends and family who enjoyed seeing themselves on the screen when we would debut our films. In short, I could identify with the premise of Be Kind Rewind pretty strongly.

And I thoroughly enjoyed it. I laughed more than I usually laugh at movies. And the movie had a sweet heart to it, which I wasn't really expecting. It was almost Capra-esque. Was it light fare? Sure. Was it funny? Yes. Was the story improbable? Most certainly. But the film asked for a willing suspension of disbelief fairly early, with the camouflage scene. That moment said "this is kind of a different world these guys inhabit, so please go along for the ride." I have no problem with movies that run this way, and Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind asked for the same suspension of disbelief. What I have a problem with is movies that aim to be real to life, like snippets of our actual lives, and then whack us with a situation so ridiculously unreal that we can't buy into it or relate to it...that's when they lose me. But Gondry let us know early on what we were in for, and I got it.

Warning: there be spoilers in this paragraph. But the movie stayed realistic in some areas, just enough to make it not seem so removed from reality that we felt detached from the story. For instance, even though Mike and Jerry make enough money to save the building (improbable that so many kooky misfits would be lining up to rent homemade ripoffs of Hollywood movies..and paying enough to net $60,000 in a few weeks) their plans are thwarted by the Hollywood lawyers (bringing the almost "magical realism" of the story a little more down to earth). And even though they band the community together to create their own heartfelt epic, they still ultimately lose the building. When you look at the grand scheme of the storyline, what would have been more realistic? The classic Hollywood ending would have had the community saving the building and they all live happily ever after, perhaps transforming the video store into a little low-budget community production house. Instead, the inevitable happened. The building was lost. But the main characters, and the community, gained something even better. That's Capra, isn't it?

I don't know. I just like this kind of movie now and then, where a departure from reality doesn't have to be conveniently explained with something logical, like "it was all a dream" or "it was actually one character's mental illness imagining such and such." It's a departure from the norm, which is probably why the movie will not do well at the box office. In fact, as the credits rolled, I asked Peter if he liked it and he said it was the worst piece of trash he'd ever been subjected to. He continued his strong condemnations until I mentioned that I liked it. It was interesting (and unusual) to have that wide of a gap on our take on a movie.

I haven't read any reviews yet, on purpose. Dom once said that he didn't read reviews before he saw a movie, because then his natural response to the movie would be tainted. I agree with that. So if there's a movie I want to see, I avoid the reviews until after I've seen it. Now that I've written some of my thoughts, I'll check out what others are saying.

But regardless of what the critics say, I wholeheartedly recommend this movie.