Sometimes you think you know exactly what a film is going to be like that you overlook it initially and as time passes and you never get around to watching it, you convince yourself that it doesn’t really matter because you knew what is was going to be like anyway so you haven’t really missed much; well, this is exactly what happened with me and writer/director Michel Gondry’s Be Kind Rewind.
I knew from the trailer that it was a comedy starring Jack Black and Mos Def and I was aware that it involved them having to shoot camcorder versions of classic movies and that mayhem ensues but that’s about it and although I intended to see it at the cinema I never did and despite being a fan of Gondry’s previous films written by Charlie Kaufman, Human Nature and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I didn’t get around to making the home video purchase of Be Kind Rewind until now with the 20th Century Fox Blu-ray release.
Suffice to say I was taken aback when the opening credits started to recount the life and times of one Thomas “Fats” Waller, the larger than life stride pianist, all-round entertainer and prolific composer of popular songs such as Ain’t Misbehavin’, Honeysuckle Rose and This Joint Is Jumpin’ with long time lyricist Andy Razaf; there wasn’t even a hint of any of this in the trailer?! The point is that I have been a devotee of Waller since my early teens when I was given an old compilation LP of his by my Grandfather, it was simply called Handful of Keys, taking its name from the title of his staggering instrumental tour de force, just one of the many outstanding tracks included on the album; a record which hardly ever left my turntable.
The film, which is set in the New Jersey neighbourhood of Passaic, lays claim to be the birthplace of Fats Waller; actually it’s the proprietor of the rundown community video store, Mr. Fletcher played by Danny Glover who’s perpetuated the myth that Waller was actually born in his building which is due to be demolished to make way for a new development unless he can raise enough money to renovate the place. Fletcher is taking a short trip to honour Waller’s memory on the anniversary of his death and he leaves his young assistant, Mike (Mos Def) minding the store but warns him never to let his eccentric and accident prone friend Jerry (Jack Black) inside while he’s away.
Mike fails to heed the counsel of his boss and opens the door to Jerry after he accidentally becomes electrically charged in an attempt to sabotage the local generator which he believes is being used as a conduit to control his thoughts. The magnetic field emanating from Jerry manages to wipe the store’s entire collection of tapes and when the regular customers complain the disastrous duo come up with the hare-brained scheme of shooting their own homespun versions, the first of which is Ghostbusters, hoping that nobody will notice the difference; this is the part that does feature prominently in the trailer and whilst it’s a novel laughable notion it never really felt robust enough to fulfil a feature film’s running time.
Without wanting to give too much more away, because I would like first time viewers to undertake the same journey of discovery that I did, what transpires is that Be Kind Rewind manages to be three things at once, a very funny modern comedy, an old-fashioned ‘buddy picture’ and a heart-warming ‘Capraesque’ story of community spirit overcoming corporate tyranny. Mos Def and Jack Black are exceedingly amiable in their roles; somewhat surprisingly the latter who, despite being a gifted comic actor, has a habit of playing irritating characters. Michel Gondry does a fantastic job directing his own script, embellishing it with wonderful visual nuggets such as the interference that skews the picture whilst Jerry is magnetised.
The Blu-ray is presented in full 1080p in its original 2:35.1 aspect ratio and aside from Mike and Jerry’s “sweded” VHS movies the picture quality is uniformly sharp and pleasingly vibrant. The soundtrack gets an even more luscious upscale, an impressive DTS-HD 7.1 mix showing off the soundscape of the busy Passaic streets and the tracks especially recorded by Booker T. Jones and his M.G.’s, Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn and Steve Cropper who last appeared on-screen together when Jake and Elwood put the band back together in The Blues Brothers.
There are some extras of note contained on the disc including an insightful feature focusing on the Booker T. recording sessions with director Michel Gondry on the drums, a flippant discussion between Gondry and Jack Black captured at the time he was shooting Tropic Thunder and my favourite the full 12 minute version of the Fats Waller Was Born Here documentary of which only half actually appeared in the final cut. Be Kind Rewind is a rare, timeless movie that delivers belly laughs whilst making a serious point about the nature of ‘art’ and the power of communal loyalty.
