Revival and renaissance lie at the heart of “Be Kind
Rewind,” the newest film from the traditionally surrealist director of “Eternal
Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” Michel Gondry. Although the film performs on a
much less formalistic level, its ardor for the small town marginalized by the
corrupted city is both apparent and inspiring.

Mike (Mos Def), best friend Jerry (Jack Black) and
girl-next-door Alma (Melonie Diaz) form the trio that propel the film’s curious
premise. After being magnetized as a result of a whacky stunt, Jerry
unknowingly erases all of the footage in the Be Kind Rewind VHS rental store.
In order to convince proprietor Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover) not to give up hope
in the face of commercial urbanization, the two best friends take a chance on
an outlandish idea that eventually brings more customers to the store than
anything else they’ve ever done: donning various homemade costumes, they
re-film each movie.

The group’s renditions of countless movies are capricious,
comic and creatively entertaining. Imagining and rearticulating new meaning and
significance to the community’s love of film, the twenty-minute remakes become
an outlet for the town’s personal sense of collective identity. Outside of
these scenes, however, the plot-generating narrative comes off as campy and
something like the themed episode of an ’80s sitcom where the main character
tries to save the school’s oldest tree.

Set against the theoretical backdrop of the Harlem
Renaissance, “Be Kind Rewind” extols the virtues of a community’s collective
effort to define itself through its art. The movie remakes may start out with
just Mike, Jerry and Alma, but they quickly progress into comedic adventures
starring many of the store’s best customers. And unlike the original movies their
films are based on, the remakes are imbued with post-modern personality. The
films create a modern story of one small, forgettable town’s spontaneous
rebirth which eventually culminates in a Capraesque ending.

Passaic, the quaint and retrograde town in New Jersey, is
where it all takes place; a small town where, pleasantly, all its citizens are
unaestheticized by celebrities and Hollywood glamour, where small side
characters look like the lady you passed by in the theater lobby or a friend’s
uncle you met once at a family gathering. Notably the county where William
Carlos Williams’ Paterson resides — the location of his epic poem of the same
name, celebrating his own American small-town home — Passaic also has its own
minor claim to fame in the story of legendary musician Fats Waller.

Although it has the same narrative themes as “Barbershop,”
Gondry’s wit and spirited originality help redeem the film’s tired sincerity
(and some of Mos Def’s acting). Glorifying films made with heart and for the
creators’ personal viewing pleasure (as opposed to the commercialization of
mainstream studio pictures), he explores the democratic versatility of the
video camera.

“Be Kind Rewind” is neither Gondry’s best work nor the most
powerful movie experience, but it should at least be appreciated for its
innovative and unique approach to small-town dilemmas. Encouraging a
renaissance of creative energy in every American community, it implores future
films to be personable and personal again — and turn the credits into a list of
everyone who attended your birthday last year.