Gentle Snark

February 20, 2008

"Be Kind Rewind" introduces "Sweding" to the world

By Geoff Carter

NWsource staff

Director Michel Gondry has made a career of exploring strange ground in the strangest possible way, resulting in films that can best be described as ... strange. But where "The Science of Sleep" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" used their visual dazzle and unusual premises to express emotions too complex to put into words, "Be Kind Rewind" [0] finds Gondry doing his thing for laughs.

In brief: Jack Black becomes magnetized and inadvertently erases all the VHS rentals in Mos Def's video store. They remake the movies themselves and tell customers that the new versions of "Ghostbusters," "Robocop" and "Driving Miss Daisy" come from Sweden. If that seems absurd, remember that you paid Gondry cash money to show you what would happen if Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet paid to have their memories erased. They weren't even promised new and improved memories made by the Swedes.

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company


Article photos

Be Kind Rewind

Photo: New Line Cinema

Jack Black prepares to remake yet another classic film in "Be Kind Rewind."