I watched “Be Kind Rewind” on the weekend and, overall, I liked it. I wasn’t expecting to LOL my pants off or anything, but it was amusing and original and had some decent laughs and likeable characters.

Jack Black, as always, plays the Eccentric really well, and his blend of paranoia and childlike enthusiasm was entertaining, though not necessarily very original. Some of it was very typical Jack Black, doing what he always does (particularly in a brief scene near the beginning of the movie where he does a vocal impression of a bass guitar while “jamming” with some kids). He’s capability of a decent amount of versatility, as seen in movies like King Kong, but Be Kind Rewind is basically standard Jack Black fare and doesn’t really push him outside of his box. Which is fine; he’s good at what he does.

I’m a big fan of Mos Def and his unique way of conveying so much meaning with his facial expressions despite the fact that he barely moves his face at all. I didn’t like this character for him as much as I liked Ford Prefect in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, but then again, the writing in H2G2 was far stronger than it was in this movie.

There were some really funny and creative parts near the beginning of the movie, especially the raid on the power plant (the camoflauge is brilliant!) and the part where Jack Black’s character, after becoming magnetized, gets sucked into a chain-link fence while walking away from Mos Def’s movie store in a huff.

Over the course of the movie fewer and fewer funny things happen, and as the plot kicks in the movie gets more of a sentimental drama and less of a comedy. It’s in the dramatic portions that the movie loses a lot of its real punch or meaningfulness, unfortunately. During the dramatic portions, it felt as if all the ingredients were there for me to feel really invested in and concerned about the characters, but for some reason I just didn’t so it got a bit tedious. And since the movie ends with a several-minute long sentimentalfest (I made up a word!), I went away from the movie with that unfulfilled feeling.

So I guess the lesson to be learned is that you should always try to end a movie on its strong point. “The Notebook” didn’t end with an action sequence or a pratfall: it ended with the heart-wrenching, yet deeply satisfying, death of its elderly protagonists. (Side-note: virtually every movie can be made better if the main character(s) die at the end. Why do you think Titanic was so successful?) In the same way, you shouldn’t end your comedy with a sentimentalfest (I used my word again!) if drama and character investment aren’t the strong points of the movie. If “Be Kind Rewind” had finished off with a joke, I think I would have liked it quite a bit more, but as it is, I found it a worthwhile but less-than-special comedy with an interesting basic concept.

Recommendation: If you don’t have another comedy in mind to watch, “Be Kind Rewind” is worth seeing, but don’t expect a masterpiece.

Similar Posts:

  1. Pan's Labyrinth Review
  2. Walk the Line Review
  3. The Bourne Ultimatum