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"BE KIND REWIND" (2008) (Jack Black, Mos Def) (PG-13) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Moderate Mild Moderate None Minor Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Heavy None None None Mild Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Moderate Mild None Mild Mild QUICK TAKE: Comedy: After all of the VHS tapes are accidentally erased in a video store, an employee and his friend set out to remake all of the films themselves. PLOT: In Passaic, N.J., Mr. Fletcher (DANNY GLOVER) runs an archaic video store known as Be Kind Rewind. While there are still some diehard customers, such as Miss Falewicz (MIA FARROW), the fact that the store only rents VHS tapes means its days are numbered. That's especially true since the local zoning board has given Mr. Fletcher just 60 days to bring the building up to code or else they'll raze the place to make way for new development. Even so, Fletcher is headed off to celebrate an anniversary involving the late jazz great Fats Waller who supposedly once made the building his home. Accordingly, he leaves the store in the hands of his lone employee, Mike (MOS DEF), with the only direction being that Mike not let his goofball friend, Jerry (JACK BLACK), into the place. He lives in a trailer next to the local power plant and, being a conspiracy theorist, thinks the government is up to no good with the place. Thus, he sets out to sabotage it, but in the process of doing so, he becomes magnetized. When he enters the video store and starts rearranging the product, he unknowingly erases all of the titles. When Miss Falewicz wants to rent the movie "Ghostbusters," Jerry and Mike - worried that she'll let Mr. Fletcher know what happened -- decide to make their own low-budget and substantially shortened version of the film, shot with an old home video camera. That becomes an unexpected hit, and soon they're remaking other titles with the help of customer Alma (MELONIE DIAZ) and Jerry's friend, Wilson (IRV GOOCH). From that point on, they race to keep up with customer demand, all while trying to make enough money to meet the planning board's demands and having to deal with a lawyer, Ms. Lawson (SIGOURNEY WEAVER), who arrives with a cease and desist order. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? Unless they're fans of the director's work and/or someone in the cast, it doesn't seem too likely. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For some sexual references. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: JACK BLACK plays a conspiracy-minded goofball who becomes magnetized trying to sabotage the local power plant. After he accidentally erases all of the videotapes, he convinces Mike that they should remake all of the titles themselves. He uses some profanity and briefly appears in blackface (to play a black character in a film). MOS DEF plays his more reserved and seemingly slightly dimwitted friend who works at the store, panics when all of the tapes are accidentally erased under his watch, and then serves as the director of all of their homemade remakes. He uses some profanity. DANNY GLOVER plays the store's owner who still rents VHS tapes and thus seems resigned to his business being shut down due to lack of funds to pay for necessary code upgrades. MELONIE DIAZ plays a customer who ends up helping the men make their homemade recreations of popular titles. MIA FARROW plays one of the store's longstanding customers who initially serves as a watchdog for Fletcher, but then joins the guys as they make their movies. IRV GOOCH plays Jerry's friend who also helps them make their movies. SIGOURNEY WEAVER plays a Hollywood lawyer who arrives with a cease and desist order for the men and their moviemaking enterprise. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this comedy that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of at least 2 "s" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. Several instances of sexually related dialogue are present, while a man is seen coming out of the adult video section of a store (where he's been sleeping, no product is seen). Violence includes some straight and comedic physical contact between characters, while some slapstick style material is also present, as are comedy-based recreations of violence in popular movies. Various instances of bad attitudes occur, and characters drink or smoke. Other behavior might be enticing for some kids to imitate, while crude humor also occurs. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those concerned with visually induced motion sickness and/or bright flashes of light on the screen, film footage made to look old is shaky and has a flicker to it that nears being a strobe effect. That's later seen again near the end of the film. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Jerry, Mike and Mr. Fletcher have beer. Jerry, Mike and Alma have beer. In an old-looking film, we see beer on tables and on top of a piano. Jerry talks of people getting drunk in the past. Miss Falewicz and two other women drink liquor. Alma tells Mike, who holds a bottle as a character in a film, that he needs to act drunker. BLOOD/GORE We hear the sound of Jerry vomiting three times (from being magnetized by electrical charges). We hear Jerry's intestines rumbling (from taking an entire bottle of aspirin -- not seen). Upon the advice of others, he then drinks saltwater, and then vomits from that (we hear the sound) between some cars. He then urinates there as well, and we see a stream of glowing urine flowing along the curb. Doing a modified scene from "The Lion King," Jerry has Alma's character say, "I'm gonna piss on the heads of your ancestors." Fake blood is spilled in the guys' remake of "Carrie." A scene from the guys' remake of "Boyz n the Hood" shows a fake gun and pizza used to represent blood. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE After being caught painting a graffiti mural about Fats, Jerry lies to the police about not being responsible. Jerry tries to sabotage the local power plant (thinking it's involved in a government conspiracy), but gets zapped by electrical charges in the process (played for comedy, as he's lifted off the ground by them). Jerry uses the term "dumb broad" (but not in the woman's presence). A punk grabs Jerry by the throat, with Mr. Fletcher then grabbing the punk by the arm, causing him pain. The guys unknowingly break copyright laws by remaking the films and then renting them to others. Mr. Fletcher admits that he lied about Fats (and him living at the site of the video rental store). Wanting to play the part of black jazz legend Fats Waller, Jerry shows up in moderate black face, but the others call him on that. To break into another video store, Jerry uses a rock to break a plate glass window, then he and Mike break more to get in. FRIGHTENING SCENES None. GUNS/WEAPONS Doing a scene from their remake of "Robocop," Jerry carries an obviously fake, oversized "gun." A scene from the guys' remake of "Boyz N the Hood" shows a fake gun and pizza used to represent blood. Firecrackers are used to simulate gunfire for a film, with actors falling to the sidewalk as if shot. Hearing Jerry and Mike break into his video store, a man comes out carrying a knife, but does nothing with it as he knows Mike. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "That's some heavy Shakespeare sh*t," "Balls" (testicles), "Shut up (stupid)," "You doofus," "Moron," "Now she's flipping out," "It's paranizing it," "Dumb broad," "What the duck?" "Are you crazy?" "Bitch," "Isn't she a little kooky?" "Ya'll need to chill out," "How the hell..?" "Sweded," "You're a bad ass," "I'm gonna piss on the heads of your ancestors," "You're crazy," "You're insane," "Sucks," "Hell no," "Oh, bull-pucky," "To hell with them," "Jeez," "What the crap?" and "What the hell is going on here?" The film might inspire some kids to make their own "sweded" versions of popular movies. Jerry and Mike paint a graffiti mural about Fats, which other kids later partially paint over. Jerry, Mike and Mr. Fletcher wear colanders on their heads while having beer. Jerry and Mike tap fists and simultaneously say "bounce." Jerry purposefully head butts a pole. Mike hits Jerry on the head with a frying pan, presumably to demagnetize him (temporarily). The men ignite a miniature man made of marshmallows (to imitate a scene from "Ghostbusters"), and that later results in a car accidentally catching on fire. Alma wears a midriff-revealing top. Wanting to play the part of black jazz legend Fats Waller, Jerry shows up in moderate black face, but the others call him on that. There's some break dancing at the end of the film. JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) None. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 2 "s" words, 6 hells, 3 damns, 2 craps, 1 ass, 4 uses of "Oh my God" and 1 use each of "Honest to God" and "Jesus." SEX/NUDITY A film about Fats comments on him having lots of women. After commenting on never seeing any "action" come out of Jerry's trailer, Mr. Fletcher talks about his own amorous past where his "balls" were slapping so hard (from sex) he had to pick them up off the ground. About Mike, he adds that it's more like a trumpet solo (presumably a masturbation reference). Wilson, playing the Sigourney Weaver part in "Ghostbusters," asks Jerry (playing the Bill Murray part), "Are you the key master?" followed by "I want your key inside me." In their remake of "Rush Hour 2," Jerry is concerned about kissing Wilson (dressed as a woman) and doesn't want to do that scene. Alma shows some cleavage. We see Jerry and Mike shirtless while performing as boxers for a remade film. Jerry and Alma do some fake kissing for a movie scene, with Jerry's character telling her, "I want to have sex with you." A man comes out of the adult video section of another video store, saying he's been sleeping there. That prompts Jerry to ask, "In the hardcore porn area?" We don't see any product. SMOKING A homemade movie about Fats shows him smoking (a cigar and cigarette) and another person with a cigar, while a painting of Fats shows him with a cigar (all of which appear fake). TENSE FAMILY SCENES None. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT The magic of movies. The guys unknowingly break copyright laws by remaking the films and then renting them to others. Wanting to play the part of black jazz legend Fats Waller, Jerry shows up in moderate black face, but the others call him on that. VIOLENCE Jerry goes over a fence on a ladder and ends up falling hard to the ground (but is okay). Jerry tries to sabotage the local power plant (thinking it's involved in a government conspiracy), but gets zapped by electrical charges in the process (played for comedy, as he's lifted off the ground by them). Mike and Jerry struggle (played for comedy), including the former having the latter in a headlock under his arm. Later, they half-playfully punch each other in the shoulder and chest. Mike hits Jerry on the head with a frying pan, presumably to demagnetize him (temporarily, played for comedy). The men ignite a miniature man made of marshmallows (to imitate a scene from "Ghostbusters"), and that later results in a car accidentally catching on fire. There's fake martial arts hitting (no contact) in the guys' remake of "Rush Hour 2." Mike squeezes Jerry's hand, causing him some pain. Mike hits Jerry with a frying pan again (played for comedy). Mike repeatedly hits Jerry with a hat (played for comedy). A punk grabs Jerry by the throat, with Mr. Fletcher then grabbing the punk by the arm, causing him pain. Firecrackers are used to simulate gunfire for a film, with actors falling to the sidewalk as if shot. To break into another video store, Jerry uses a rock to break a plate glass window, then he and Mike break more to get in. Reviewed January 24, 2008 / Posted February 22, 2008

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