Dan's Papers - March 7, 2008 - Flick Picks with Ian Stark

This is a quirky, jerky film set in a magical and trendy world where there are young and hip customers at every angle, all avid video tape renters. In defiance to the Netflix, DVD and web-based world we live in, the movie fans in this bizarro planet (a dusty, tired Passaic, NJ) are all about the VHS. But on second thought, there's no shame in a community that's okay with video, because that is Director Michel Gondry's (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) whole plan: to imagine a world that appreciates real effort over improved picture quality.

The Be Kind Rewind Video & Thrift store is the property of long-time owner and community linchpin Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover), who heads off on a vacation and leaves his counter clerk Mike (actor and rapper Mos Def) to take care of the oddball customers including Jerry (Jack Black), who lives across the street in a trailer. Through his ongoing machinations against the local power plant, Jerry ends up magnetizing himself, which as any former Blockbuster clerk can tell you, isn't good for video recordings. Before long, his lingering presence leaves every tape in the establishment erased.

So, when the equally dedicated/intimidating customer Miss Falewicz (Mia Farrow) arrives to rent a copy of Ghostbusters, which she has never seen, the charged-up Jerry and grounded (pardon the puns) Mike set out to replace the store's copy of that '80's comedy in the only way they can - by shooting their own version.

Unlike the thousands of film students who could replicate the special effects from that flick on a laptop, the pair uses eggs, vacuum hoses and aluminum foil to produce the remake, which ends up coming in at a neat 20 minutes. Upon viewing, Falewicz is more than pleased and begins requesting other movies. Well, the customer is always right, so the auteurs "Swede" (the term they coin, without great explanation, to describe their special work) more major hits, like Rush Hour 2, RoboCop, Last Tango in Paris, Boyz N The Hood, 2010 and It's a Wonderful Life. Other customers begin to dig the duo's efforts, and s soon, long lines of enthusiasts wanting to rent the homemade efforts form around the block.

As if a cure for the urban blues, the grungy neighborhood is emotionally revived as the love for Sweded epics grows and grows, until the big studios catch wind. Naturally, the industry, in typical big-business-bad-guy fashion, arrives to squash these perceived (and yes, actual) bootleggers, leaving them with a week before the store gets axed. However, to a crew that produced a version of Driving Miss Daisy that runs under a half-hour and stars Black's Jerry as Miss Daisy, that's a lot of time to go out with a wonderful bang.

And wonderful it is! Gondry invests his characters with motive and psyche, yet never weighs down the film with any deep thought. It's lighthearted, innocuous, and loaded with warm, funny references to some of Hollywood's best and worst films. But of course, there has to be a message somewhere, and it is this: People who love movies should go ahead and make them. And in a world where anybody with a camera can shoot and upload a homemade version of Men in Black or Carrie to YouTube with little effort, yet reach a large and instantaneous audience - it's nice advice from someone who probably enjoys receiving royalties himself.

Ian Stark is heard frequently on TV and the radio as a commentator on the movie industry, and consults with private organizations on their collections. He is widely published, in print and online, on film and other arts/culture topics.