'Rewind' deserves a closer look on DVD
"Be Kind Rewind" - I'm amazed that "Be Kind Rewind" didn't click with audiences. This gentle fable from music video auteur Michel Gondry is warm, touching and funny. Yes, it's strange, and slow-moving at the start, but I liked it. I hope the film finds an audience on DVD.
"Be Kind Rewind" takes place in a not-quite-real version of Passaic, N.J., a town within spitting distance of glittery Manhattan that's trying to pull itself out of a decades-long decline. Mike, played by the charismatic rapper/actor Mos Def, works at a vintage video store that stocks VHS tapes only. His slacker friend Jerry (Jack Black) works and lives at the auto shop next door. The pair is left in charge of the video store when owner Danny Glover takes a business trip in a last-ditch effort to save his building from the wrecking ball.
Everything goes well until Jerry magnetizes all the store's tapes, rendering them useless. Panicked, he and Mike film 20-minute knock-offs of the flicks and rent those out to customers. Their homemade versions become big hits, and the store enjoys more success than it ever has. But will it be enough to stop the city's plans to redevelop the block?
"Be Kind Rewind" takes a long time to get going. The opening act meanders, and the characters, particularly Black's Jerry, feel too contrived at the start. But the movie catches fire once Mike and Jerry start making their own movies; their low-budget re-creations of "Ghostbusters," "Rush Hour" and "2001: A Space Odyssey" are hilarious. I also liked how Gondry balances fantasy and reality in his story. It's a tricky thing to attempt, but he pulls it off. As the story unfolds, our affection for Gondry's scruffy heroes builds until the sweet, heartwarming final scene, which reveals "Be Kind Rewind" to be, flaws and all, something special.
The DVD arrives with one special feature (aside from the trailer). "Passaic Mosaic" is a heartfelt tribute to the real town and real people that Gondry used to make the film. It includes interviews with Gondry and a few of the cast members, but it focuses primarily on Passaic residents, who talk candidly about their town's struggles while also showing how much pride they have in it. It's an excellent companion piece to the film, but I would have liked more - where are Mike and Jerry's full homemade movies? What about a Gondry commentary? Material like that would have made this a top-shelf release. (PG-13; New Line, $27.95)
"Popeye the Sailor, 1938-40, Vol. 2" - I'm not opposed to computer animation, but I hope it doesn't ever kill off traditional hand-drawn cartoon work like the kind found in this new collection of classic Popeye shorts from the Fleischer cartoon studio.
The Fleischer brothers - Dave and Max - helped define the art and craft of animation in America during the 1920s with their groundbreaking "Out of the Inkwell" and "Betty Boop" cartoons. Using the rotoscope technique developed by Max Fleischer, the cartoons featured beautifully lifelike movement and a salty, sometimes surreal sense of humor that reflects the Fleischers' impoverished New York City upbringing.
As popular as their early work was, the Popeye cartoons that began in the early 1930s gave the Fleischers their most enduring success. The spinach-eating sailor was already a comic-strip star, and his transition from paper to celluloid brought him popularity that rivaled Mickey Mouse's.
This new two-disc set delivers 31 cartoons made after the Fleischers moved their animation studio from New York to Miami. Like the shorts found on the Vol. 1 set, these black-and-white cartoons have been fully restored, and they look incredible. Every detail of the Fleischers' beautiful 3-D backgrounds is clearly visible, and their fluid camerawork has never looked better. I was a bit surprised at how funny the cartoons still are, due in no small part to the voice work by Jack Mercer, whose ad-libbed mutterings as Popeye - you'll notice that Popeye's mouth doesn't move - are priceless. Mercer's work makes each short feel unique, which is important because they all follow the same basic plot.
Warner Bros. has loaded this collection with a treasure chest of great extras, including a slew of commentaries from animation experts, a nice documentary about the Fleischers' career, storyboards and an audio interview with Mercer. It's a great set and a fitting tribute to some of the best animation America has produced. (NR; Warner Bros., $34.98; Note: Also available from Warner Bros. this week is "Popeye and Friends, Vol. 1," a single-disc {$14.97} collection of Hanna-Barbera cartoons from the '70s and '80s.)