Be Kind Rewind (2008)

Cautiously Recommended

USA
Feature Film
Writer/Director: Michel Gondry
Cinematographer: Ellen Kuras
Composer: Jean-Michel Bernard
Cast: Mos Def, Jack Black, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow, Melonie Diaz

This decidedly light concoction from Gondry – chronicling a young clerk and his eccentric friend’s attempts to remake, with the aid of a camcorder and plenty of naff props, the entire back catalogue of a video rental store after a magnetic accident wipes all of the VHS tapes clean – manages to hold the attention throughout, and even contains a number of trouser soilingly funny moments, but unfortunately the film all too often disappears into a hazy sea of whimsy, inconsequence, and even sentimentality. Iain.Stott