DVD - Be Kind Rewind (12)

12:19pm Monday 21st July 2008

FOR anyone familiar with Michel Gondry's films, it will come as no surprise that Be Kind Rewind isn't an hilarious comedy as the trailers would have you believe, but more of a quirky rambling fairytale of imagination and handmade creativity.

In a convoluted twist of plot contrivance, Jerry and Mike, two dim-witted best friends, manage to wipe every video in an already failing local business, and set about making their own "sweded" versions of the shop's stock to keep the customers happy (they take a day to get to the customers because they have to come from Sweden) underestimating how popular their "sweded" versions are going to be with the local community.

Jack Black's efforts to tone down his particular brand of crazy don't quite work, and Gondry's choice of films to "swede" is sometimes a little obscure, but Be Kind Rewind has a really big heart and a really great message, that you have to claim things as your own, whether they be your neighbourhood, or Hollywood blockbusters.

Michel Gondry's films have always had a handmade feel to them, (The Science of Sleep probably wins awards for the most Blue Peter makes on film) but this takes the principle up a notch, so that it isn't just a movie, it's a blueprint for taking action. Watch it and spend the summer holidays sweding your own favourite movies, the more effects-heavy the better, and if you're still stuck for ideas, type "sweded" into YouTube and see how many people have already joined in the fun.

AT

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