Be Kind, Rewind MPAA Rating: PG-13 Entertainment: +2 Content: -2

Jack Black, Danny Glover, Dante Mos Def Smith, Mia Farrow. Comedy. Written & directed by Michel Gondry.

FILM SYNOPSIS: A neer-do-well attempts to sabotage a local power plant, thinking it is melting his brain. All he accomplishes is the erasing of all the tapes in his buddys video store. How does he mean to replace them? Film a reenactment of each and every movie, of course.

PREVIEW REVIEW: Evidently Jack Black never met a ludicrous premise he didnt think he could make money from. And lets face it, we dont attend movies starring Mr. Black for their plausibility, let alone profound insight. We just like to see him be a buffoon. And no one since Jerry Lewis has milked that characteristic better.

But the nebbish antics that worked for Jack in School of Rock now seem tired and redundant. Whats more, his coolness factor is beginning to thaw. Steve Martin, Bill Murray, and Jim Carrey have proven to have several arrows in their artistic quiver, while Jack Black has limited ammunition in his arsenal. His recent attempts (Margot at the Wedding, The Holiday) at showing more depth and versatility have disappointed. But I have hope for him. All he needs are some acting lessons and a good script.

Writer/director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep) is no doubt making a point about the significance of studio-ignored, low-budgeted films. Indeed, hes a filmmaker who tries to bring a point to his comedies. Its just that here the comedy gets in the road of his message. Mainly, because the comedy aint all that comic. Yeah, the send-ups of the movies theyre remaking are amusing, though never uproarious, but the rest of the laughs are generated from Blacks goofy shtick, which, as I said, is looking old. Its not smart satire, like, say, Thank You For Smoking. Rather, the intended laughs are mined from sexual crudities and bodily functions.

Preview Reviewer: Phil Boatwright
Distributor: New Line Cinema