Be Kind Rewind

"I will shoot you, and I know robot karate!" -- Jerry, as Robo-Cop

Apologies for the delay, but the selection in theatres for the past month have been rather slim. However, amongst the swamp of, at best, mediocre films you will find one that shines. Be Kind Rewind is a breath of fresh oxygen in a sea of carbon dioxide.

Be Kind Rewind is about a behind-the-times video rental store that refuses to make the jump to DVD. When Jerry (Jack Black) becomes magnetised, he unknowingly erases all the tapes in the store. With customers to serve, Jerry and employee Mike (Mos Def) quickly remake, or 'swede', the movies with anything and everything they can find. Even though the sweded films are obviously not the original production, they still become immensely popular and everyone begins to demand sweded versions of their favourite films from Rush Hour to Lord of the Rings.

Part of the charm of this movie lies not in the laughs, but in the recreations of memorable scenes from big budget movies. From standing on a toy car mat to create the illusion of hanging off the edge of a skyscraper to holding a fan in front of the camera to create a flickering old film effect every solution the characters come up with is highly imaginative and inventive. The question now is where did this inventiveness and imagination go in Hollywood?

Is it gone completely? No, not completely. It's just rare to find an exceptionally good movie. It's difficult to find a movie with heart. This movie has it. There are a few holes here and there, like why couldn't they be covered by the parody clause in copyright law.

Be Kind Rewind is a movie with heart; something that cannot be said about many Hollywood movies made these days.

Final rating: 8.0 out of 10