Michel Gondry

A couple have each other erased from their memories.

One of those movies where I always forget how good it is. It evokes this strange feeling, like waking up from a sad dream to find out everything's okay - a particular sort of beautiful joy that can only come out of sadness.

Concept: A
Story: A
Characters: A
Dialog: A
Pacing: A
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: A
Acting: A
Music: A

Enjoyment: A plus

GPA: 4.0/4

(May 2010)

A guy that can't keep dreams straight from reality harasses his pretty neighbor.

Basically just a feature-length music video. Gondry has a wonderful visual style, but when it comes to writing, he seems to have no interest in character. Seeing as this is supposed to be a sort of love story (or is it? fuck if I can tell), giving the audience some inkling of what the characters' relationship is might have been helpful...

Concept: D
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: B
Special show more effects/design: A
Acting: B
Music: A

Enjoyment: C plus

GPA: 2.4/4 show less

C (Indifferent).

Two guys with a video store remake all the movies. This movie is a mess, and not funny, but I guess I'm not mad about watching it once.

(Jan. 2024)

Be Kind Rewind on DVD. Every film has a few specific highlights that fans remember most: a spectacular stunt or chase sequence, a climatic revelation or twist or, with comedies especially, an outrageous line or stretch of dialog. These moments can make up for a lot of mediocrity in the rest of a film and save it from being a dud. Other times, you end up with a very funny trailer and a not-so-great movie (see P.S. I Love You). In this case, the highlights keep Be Kind Rewind from the waste show more bin, but just barely. The heart of the movie is two guys (Jack Black and Mos Def) becoming movie producers, directors, and actors as they create short remakes of blockbuster films to rent when Black becomes magnetized and erases all the inventory in Mr. Fletcher’s (Danny Glover) independent movie rental store in Passaic, NJ. The remakes become hugely popular and soon the entire neighborhood becomes involved in the venture. However, the film wanders around for way too long before reaching a groove once the two misfits start their unusual projects and also ends with a bit of a whimper as well. The scenes of them creating these awful shorts are quite funny (especially the one for Rush Hour 2) and Melonie Diaz is excellent as a girl from the local dry cleaners who becomes their leading lady and partner in the business. I just wish the rest of the film had been as good.
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