Eye Candy #185 - "Be Kind Rewind"

Be Kind Rewind:  Now here’s an interesting line to tread - we have a movie about two schlubs who re-film all the classics in an effort to populate their Passaic, NJ video store after a freak accident demagnetizes their existing stock, and do so while violating about every known copyright and intellectual property rights.  I know what you‘re thinking - “those independent movies can get away with anything“, but this film was a major studio release, and no doubt that studio is part of the MPAA, one of the most vocal, active, and stringent anti-piracy groups on the planet.  Mixed message, no?  Jack Black and Mos Def are the two schlubs/raving idiots (Jerry and Mike) who re-film all the movies (including “Last Tango in Paris”, though we don’t get any clips of THAT particular gem in “Be Kind Rewind”), after erasing all the films in the video store owned by Fats Waller aficionado Elroy Fletcher (played by Danny Glover).  Their special effects are bargain basement, but their particular takes end up becoming neighborhood favorites, attracting a loyal following…and the attention of the FBI.  A flat comedy, without a real good laugh anywhere to be found.  Sure, it can be fun, but this film didn’t want to be a string of film parodies thrown together.  Unfortunately what it did bring to the table, other than the parodies, was a fairly maudlin take on Fats Waller.  I was expecting a lot more because both Black and Def are capable of making better pictures.  This was a letdown.   I gave it three stars for the cleverness of some of the parodies and that’s it. Woodchuck sez, “Skip it.”