Be Kind Rewind: What the Hell Was I Thinking?


Back in July of 2008, I wrote a review of the Michel Gondry film Be Kind Rewind. In it, I had written about how it was a predominantly nice film that wasn't so much funny as it was sweet and fun. It reminded me of how my friends and I made our own movies and I liked that I could relate to it. I only gave it a 5.5 out of 10, but that is still a mild recommendation. Recently on a free preview of Cinemax, I got the chance to watch Be Kind Rewind again. I recalled all the nice things I had written about it and thought I'd give it a second watch. After an hour, I had to shut off the television because I couldn't take it anymore. I had made a mistake.


I never said Be Kind Rewind was a very good film. Whenever somebody asked me "Hey, what did you think of this movie?" I never said it was a good movie. My answer was always the same: "It was nice. Very pleasant." I am deeply sorry for misleading you. There is nothing nice or pleasant about this movie. In my first review I made a point of saying how the script was awful, the direction was trite, and the acting was subpar. Those statements stand where they are. But I did say that I enjoyed Jack Black's performance as the eccentric conspiracy theorist Jerry. Holy hell I must have been slipped acid before watching this movie the first time. The second time around, it was Black who I hated THE MOST. He was nothing more than an annoying pestilence. Also at second viewing, the lazy direction and camerawork proved to be not just trite but unyieldingly soporific. It was seriously as though my friends and I through this movie together in a week. And do you know how I said I liked this movie because it reminded me of my friends and the fun we had making our own movies? Well I'm over it.


Sure I didn't watch Be Kind Rewind all the way through the second time, but I wasn't going to subject myself to the rest of it again. After shutting it off, I just thought back to what the ending was, and realized how unfulfilling and inconclusive it was. Forget all the stuff I said before, because I retract it all. My new rating (1/10)




2 comments:

  1. Haha, enjoyed this re-review. Often wondered how critics react on their second viewing. Once all preconceived notions that were present for the first viewing have gone,a different mood, ect. Guess this has given me an incite!
    (on a slight tangent I often but dvds after seing them at the cinema only for the film not to be as good the second time round and the dvd to be watched once. Maybe there should be a review site that reviews films when they come out, then the same reviewer watches again a couple months later? Could save me some money...?)

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  2. I actually find that to be true as well, but it can also work the other way around. I sometimes see a movie once and dislike it, and then the second time around it just hits me. I might start doing more posts like this now that I see it is actually relevant. Thanks for the comment!

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Movies given a 10/10

  • Milk
  • In Bruges
  • Slumdog Millionaire
  • The Dark Knight
  • Iron Man
  • No Country For Old Men
  • The Shining
  • A Clockwork Orange