(IUME [W BE KIND REWIND (12A) 100mm 0..
Michel Gondry‘s freewheeling satire on copyright law features a frustrated filmmaker Mike (Mos Def), who works in a VHS-only video store in an apartment block due for demolition. When his dad (Danny Glover) is out of town finding out about the potentialities of the new- fangled DVD format. Mike unwisely allows his pal Jerry (Jack Black) into the store, setting in motion an accident that erases every tape in the shop. Mike and Jerry attempt to cover-up this mishap by creating their own versions of well-known films, a lunatic project which wins them the admiration and support of their neighbourhood, until nasty old Hollywood copyright law, in the form of a ball-breaking exec (Sigourney Weaver) turns up with a steamroller to destroy their precious work, and the shop itself.
Like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and last year‘s equally idiosyncratic, introspective and charming The Science of Sleep, Gondry’s fourth feature has a great, daft jumping-off point — that films are as much the property of the audience as the filmmakers, and
46 THE LIST WATS Fet‘ EGGS
that apeing big movies should be encouraged; it is, after all, the way in which most aspiring filmmakers learn their craft. Gondry has coined the word ‘sueding’ to describe the bootlegging process, and Be Kind Rewind features a number of classics rendered in Gondry's home-made style, from Ghostbusters to Robocop.
Yet, Gondry’s own film falls well short of delivering on its radical premise. While Def has never been more likeable than the agreeably put upon Mike, and Melonie Diaz (Lords of Dogtown, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints) offers terrific comic support as a starstruck laundrywoman, Black tries embarrassingly hard for laughs, and the starry supporting cast (Weaver, Glover, Mia Farrow) never seem to be in on the joke. And although the Capra-esque notion of a community drawn together by their love of cinema is an attractive one, Gondry's consideration and execution of the central narrative is as slipshod and carelessly assembled as the ‘sueded’ films themselves. Gondry’s ideas are always original and there’s moments of magic here, but ultimately Be Kind Rewind is a collection of cool ideas in search of a movie. (Eddie Harrison)
I General release from Fri 75 Feb.
THRILLERHORROR WAZ
(18) 104mm .0
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incongruous. (Lindsay West) I Selected release from Fri 22 Feb.
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Tl‘e Bucket l is: H; ton blan'i ’ {will rinrnnarison to either llll'I, nut Nicholson's deVilisr pvmna trririai- l cornir: edge to the action. slicinr; through an unlOrtunatr: illlrl‘,’ .vitlr the Withering put down ‘Not/iri‘, min-u what you think.’ And Freeman lifter, restrained support in a straiuitt "lr'lll role. which pays off when the Hi", surprise in Zackhan 's script WNW”. .r: the linal act The Bucket l N if; t“ la“ l< Nicholson what True Grit was to .lrinr‘ Wayne - a ~oret’itest hits reprise that rouses its ageing audience to come around one more time and see a fat 0") man steal the show. lErlrlie Harrison; I General release from Fri 75 Feb.
Marketed as a member of the Se7en school of psychological thriller. the gory realities of WAZ's serial killer chase premise put it closer to the iriiqiiitoiir; barbarism presented by James Wan and Leigh Whannell's Saw series.
Detective Eddie Argo (Stellan Skarsgard) is iaded. He sulks his way through New Yerk crime scenes tailed by Wide-eyed new werk partner Helen llvlelissa George, Their newest case is an intellectual puzzle wrapped inside a sadist's heart-trip. The killer in question is hell bent on proVing the WAZ eriuation — a selfish rgene theory that forces Victims into kill-Cr-be—kilied ultimatums.
Despite b0rrowmg a shadowy slow build technique from Se7er for the fire: hall of the film, WAZ oLiickly succumbs to the de rigueur torture porn currently being practised by Eli Hostel Roth and his many acolytes. thus sacrificing a decent
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there is an air of uneasiness hanging over WAX, and the threat of fingernail removal is only half the reason. This may be due in some part to fir:,t-tirrie director Tom Shankland and writer Clive Bradley's oaCKground in British T‘/ drama :Jericho. City of ‘/ice,. Indeed WAZ feels at times like a low-budget cor. Show mtr. hardcore Violence spliced in. The reSult is distractingly ra rr-edged and