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Be Kind Rewind
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - New Line Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Andy James & Noor Razzak (30th July 2008). |
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The Film
 Michel Gondry’s latest whimsical film involves two friends, Mike (Mos Def) and Jerry (Jack Black), and their attempts to save their local video store from development by ‘sweding’ popular films. The video store owner, Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover), is facing the demolition of his building from property developers and when he leaves to research other revenue options he charges Mike with the running of the store. Jerry’s ludicrous attempt to sabotage the local power station results in him becoming magnetised, and he mistakenly erases all the video tapes in the store. The pressure to produce a copy of "Ghostbusters" (1984) for a sweet, kooky regular (Mia Farrow) gives Mike the brainwave to produce their own take – what they name the sweded version. Of course, the demand for more films to be 'sweded' soon rises and the two goofballs behind it all are soon very close to saving the store…It is not long before, as they say, hilarity ensues. Gondry’s well noted visual styling is in full force here – the bargain basement nature of the sweded productions are a perfect vehicle for his homemade look. Low budget remakes of "Rush Hour 2" (2001) and "Men in Black" (1997) offer fantastic moments of sketch comedy but the downside to all this is that we soon only want to see the swedes, and lose interest in the characters themselves. In this respect, Gondry really does not help himself – Mike, Jerry and Mr. Fletcher do not feel quite fully drawn. Opportunities for tension and conflict between them are raised, but never fully explored or developed. Instead, we move on to the next swede – many of the more interesting looking ones only being glimpsed ("The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" (1964), "Gummo" ?! (1997). Secondary characters are introduced left and right, with no real explanation as to who they are and how they relate to anyone (particularly the owner of the rival DVD store who seems to know Mike, yet Mike has no idea who he is). This lack of tensions runs through the whole film: whilst the property developers could be considered the ‘bad guys’, they do seem to try to help Mr. Fletcher as much as bureaucracy will allow. No grandly drawn villains here – something that may have tied the film closer, and given us someone to root against. The closest we get to a true villain is an appearance in the third act by Sigourney Weaver and goons as representatives of the film industry – however the penalties for the boys’ efforts (copyright law and all that) are quickly raised before being brushed aside. It does get the boys (and the rest of the local community) making their first original film though – a true charmer about ‘local’ hero Fats Waller. The charm of Mos Def and a (slightly) restrained Jack Black just barely manage to keep the film anchored and give it some real heart. It’s a small, enjoyable enough film that doesn’t quite manage to move past its kick-start idea and is occasionally overwhelmed by the odd twee moments.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1 this high-definition image is in 1080p 24/fps and has been created using VC-1 compression codec. The image is really made up of a combination of film and video, of course the moments where Jerry and Mike are making their versions of films it's in video so the quality is supposed to look the way it does. The overall image is rather excellent, sharpness and detail hold up throughout the print, colors are vivid and stand out, I especially loved the use of colors in the various cheaply made sets the characters built for their films. Black levels and shadow detail are spot on as are skin tones. The image is clean without any major flaws including compression related issues or edge-enhancement.
Audio
A single English DTS-HD lossless master audio 7.1 track is included on this release, the audio is exceptionally good even though this isn't entirely an action film it's a rather active sound mix, Gondry uses a lot of unique sounds to represent Jerry's magnetism as well as cool little sounds that make up their various film productions. Dialogue is clear and distortion free, ambient sound is used effectively as well to draw the viewer in and the film's score adds a further level of depth. For a comedy the track feels rich and displays a fairly decent range. Optional subtitles are included in English for the hearing impaired and Spanish.
Extras
New Line has released the film with a collection of 7 featurettes and a theatrical trailer. Below is a closer look at these supplements. First up is "Passaic Mosaic", a featurette that runs for 10 minutes 22 seconds and takes a look at the film's production in Passaic, New Jersey where they shot on location and also looks at the involvement of the local community as well. It was really nice to see the filmmaker's and the community share in the experience of brining Hollywood to the town. There are also a collection of Blu-ray exclusive extras (UPDATE 31/12/08: but only when compared to the US DVD. The UK DVD includes all the extras available here - Adrian Busby), the first of which is "Booker T & Michel Gondry" featurette runs for 6 minutes 40 seconds and takes a look at a Fats Waller segment shoot for the film and how Gondry brought together some Jazz legends to be apart of the film. Unfortunately the scene was cut from the film but we get to see the shooting of the scene and some interviews with Glover and some of the Jazz musicians. Also looks at a recording session for some music that was produced for the film. "Jack Black and Mos Def Improvise “Sweded” Theme Songs" featurette is the next exclusive extra that runs for 4 minutes 57 seconds, the two actors improvise some songs on the set of the film to the encouragement of the director. "A conversation with Jack Black and Michel Gondry" featurette which runs for 6 minutes 3 seconds. Black and Gondry basically have a conversation, they start off by talking about a term for masturbating, when 'sweding' something, and share some anecdotes from the filming and Gondry asks Black on his preparation. "Complete Fats Waller Biopic" featurette runs for 11 minutes 27 seconds, is the complete footage shot for the film which the entire community came together to make. This is a cool feature, I really enjoyed this production and kind of wished the disc producers also included uncut versions of the other films that Jerry and Mike made during the film. Following that is a "Making-Of" featurette which runs for 33 minutes 20 seconds, takes a look at the genesis of the film's plot, the scriptwriting as well as delves into other aspects of the production including shooting in New Jersey and getting the community involved much like the characters in the films. Gondry works with some long time collaborators and explored the community and developed the various scenes including the production design, the shooting style, and working with the cast among other things such as the editing of the film and it's release and response. This is a finely made feature that includes some excellent interviews and behind-the-scenes footage taken during the production of the film. Next up is the "Musical Tribute to Fats Waller with Mos Def, Michel Gondry and Jean-Michel Bernard Live" featurette which runs for 6 minutes 6 seconds. I suppose this footage was taken during the wrap party for the film as the three perform to a crowd a song that pays tribute to Waller, the Jazz musician that's iconized in the film. There's also the film's original theatrical trailer which runs for 2 minutes 30 seconds. Finally there's a bonus trailer that plays at startup before the menu for: - "Truth" anti-tobacco spot which runs for 31 seconds.
Overall
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