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As a big fan of Michel Gondry, I was pissed to see that his latest film, Be Kind Rewind, was universally panned. Checking out IMDb, the reception seemed to be unanimous: cute, overrated, underachieving and unfunny. My hero, Roger Ebert, only gave the movie two and a half stars, describing his experience as “positive and genial”, but nothing hilarious.
Something inside of me died when I heard this. I’m a huge fan of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry’s previous film) and Ghostbusters is my favorite film franchise of all time (so I was pleasantly surprised to watch them remake it). Jack Black is funny, the premise is highly original and slightly surreal and Michel Gondry is a genius. I honestly did not think that this film could possibly go wrong.
I had seriously been looking forward to this film for a long time.
So the critical reception to Gondry's film was a serious blow to my master plan for the weekend. I found myself second guessing whether or not I’d actually trudge through the slush of winter and shell out $7 to see a movie that no one liked. Maybe I’d just wait for the DVD.
But then something hit me: déjà vu. Critics also hated Cloverfield. They thought the “message” of the movie was cheap and that the hand held cinematography effects were obnoxious and unnecessary. I, on the other hand, completely dissented.
I felt that Cloverfield was the greatest January release I’ve ever seen. It completely blew me away with its strong narrative that, with the aid of its cinematography, projected a gritty realism. I didn’t see 9/11 when I saw Cloverfield, I saw Godzilla on steroids.
So I said "fuck it" and went to see the movie anyways. And I’m glad I did.
Be Kind Rewind is not hilarious by any means, but who cares? It was never advertised as a comedy of Anchorman proportions. It’s a friggin’ Michel Gondry movie! It’s a humorous film like Sideways or The Life Aquatic. It is a quirky and weird movie with funny moments that are never quite sidesplitting and uproarious.
Was Gondry’s 2004 “comedy” Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind hilarious? No. Yet critics then praised Gondry’s genius as unique. So why now, with Be Kind Rewind, are critics taking a complete 180 in their approach to his films?
I blame Jack Black - not because he’s not funny or talented (he is both), but because America sees him as a new age Jim Carrey and cannot perceive him acting in serious comedy roles.
Be Kind Rewind is a very quirky, often funny, feel good movie; I can’t say it’s the best movie of it’s kind, but I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed it and can easily recommend this movie to my friends.
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Last post: Feb. 26, 2008 at 12:24 pm
J_fisher7 (Josh Fisher) said on Feb. 26, 2008 at 12:24 pm:
It's spelled Michel.
He's French.
Michèle is a mademoiselle's name in French.
Both are pronounced the same.
Regarding this movie... I don't know why directors insist on doing this. I know it's artistic expression to do a genre-180, and it's likely boring to be stuck in one particular category, but between Kevin Smith making Jersey Girl and now this movie, the end result is never as good as what propelled them to the top of the radar.
Being a Gondry fan, I will see this movie. It was just so weird to see this movie on imdb when it was in production.
it's GOTTA be better than Jersey Girl
Jeff Brandt (Jeff Brandt) said on Feb. 26, 2008 at 10:12 am:
I'm guessing the critics were pissed just in comparison with Eterenal Sunshine. Clearly it didn't compare to that, but I don't think it was really trying to. It was definitely a fun movie that I found worth seeing. Not exactly one you need to see on the big screen though, so waiting for DVD release wouldn't hurt either.