Be Kind Rewind 03/07/08

There are three fatal flaws in this "want to be Capraesque" movie. Jack Black once and director Michel Gondry twice. The story takes place in a VHS store that has its tapes erased by a magnetized Jack Black. Since they have no money and nobody uses VHS anymore the team of Black and Mos Def remake the movies themselves instead of buying new ones. They soon become neighborhood Gods and business booms and there's that cliche scene where a crowd of people stand below a window and chant for Mos Def to come out of a depression and make more movies.
This is a ridiculously sweet and cheesy premise and Gondry would like to instill in us that warm and fuzzy community feeling. Mia Farrow says at one point, "Here is to movies with heart." Unfortunately this movie doesn't have heart, and it is a grand suspension of disbelief that anyone would turn up to this store wanting their movies or Jack Black's autograph.
Reason #1: Jack Black's character is a deutschebag. He's mean and hard to work with. He complains incessantly and suffers from a bit of crazy attached onto an inflated ego. I think this movie would have worked infinitely better if they had a stock Owen Wilson character in his place. He can still have Black's energy just not so much acidity. 
Reason #2: The movies that these two guys make suck ass. They're horrible. The audio and video are terrible. They plot lines are completely stolen and they contain very little ingenuity apart from how certain low budget special effects are achieved. Why anyone in the neighborhood would want to watch these blows my mind. Sure it may have some cool effect by starring people from the neighborhood, but like I said the Black character is a deutsche. Why would these people pay to see him in a bad movie.
Reason #3: Another thing that bothered me tremendously is the ridiculous production value these homemade movies contain. For instance, they only had two hours to make the Ghostbusters movie. Somehow they shot several scenes, constructed costumes and cardboard models of a city in that time. I only mention this because being a broadcasting student I have made movies before. I felt like the poor hockey player who sees "Mighty Ducks" for the first time. This movie is for people who haven't the slightest idea what goes into making a movie. The premise of this movie is bullshit, and Gondry, someone who makes movies for a living, should know better.