The story of Be Kind Rewind is simple. In the small town of Passaic, New Jersey, the local still-VHS-based video store Be Kind Rewind struggles to survive. The only non-employees in the store on a regular basis are junkyard worker and troublemaker Jerry (Jack Black) and Ms. Kimberly (Mia Farrow), a loyal, if a bit behind the times, friend of the store’s owner Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover). Soon after the movie opens, county officials tell Mr. Fletcher he must make required improvements to his building or settle a deal with them to turn it into modern condominiums.

But to Mr. Fletcher and his loyal employee Mike (Mos Def), the store is their home. Even if it isn’t a great business, it’s still their business. And so, faced with the prospect of closing, Mr. Fletcher heads on a research trip to try to save his store and leaves it in Mike’s hands with only one requirement—keep Jerry out. But since Jerry is Jack Black and Mike is a bit of pushover, in the store Jerry comes. And arriving straight from sabotaging a power plant and magnetizing his body, he also erases every single tape in the store.

The problem: Not only is the already failing store racing against time to save itself, now they don’t even have a single movie to keep up the meager businesses they had in the first place. Although Mike doesn’t know about the store’s impending closure, he is beside himself. Mr. Fletcher trusted him to run the store while he was gone and he is failing miserably. Which of course means, Mike and Jerry must do the only thing that can be done—remake each movie their few customers want to see themselves.

And let me tell you, if for no other reason than to see Jack Black and Mos Def remake twenty or so big budget movies into their own twenty minute minimal budget replacements, Be Kind Rewind is worth a watch. Snapshot teaser—a lot of tin foil, a couple of vacuums, a bag of marshmallows, and Jerry’s strange version of the Ghostbusters theme song; kids beating up Black’s Jackie Chan on the playground; Mos Def driving Black’s Ms. Daisy; and the local mechanic quitting after Jerry refuses to kiss him. They are quick and dirty tributes to the movies we love the most. They are hilarious and crazy pokes at every movie we’ve seen more times than we care to admit. And in more ways than one, they are a spot-on commentary on the reality of all the money, regulations, and special effects that go into the movies we watch every single day.

In many ways they remind me of a skit I was involved in during college—we called it “Low Budget Star Wars Theater.” I was Darth Vader. I wore paper bag over my head, breathed heavily into a microphone, and fought with a spring loaded umbrella. I don’t remember exactly why we were doing that particular skit, but I remember it being fun and I remember everyone enjoying it.

And for Jerry, Mike, and the growing crowds that come in to rent their “sweded” movies (you’ll have to watch the movie to understand that one), the same is true. The movies are not masterpieces. They are not great cinematic achievements. But even so, there is something about them that draws people to them. They like seeing their friends in their favorite stories. They like seeing their favorite stories told in a way that is uniquely their own. And when Jerry and Mike decide they need to make more movies to save the store, they are all more than willing to lend their hands and their talents too.

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