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From the fiercely imaginative mind of Academy Award®-winning writer/director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) comes Be Kind Rewind, a tale of two childhood friends who inadvertently get caught up in a scheme to rewrite film history and, in turn, save their beloved video store from extinction. What results is a heartwarming story featuring a sharp-tongued elderly woman who befriends her chauffeur, an investigation by a team of spectral analysts hunting down ghosts in New York, a heart-pounding adventure about a Hong Kong detective and his foul-mouthed partner, a coming of age story set in South Central Los Angeles, and a genetically re-engineered cop fighting criminals…all rolled into one.

Jerry (Jack Black) and Mike (Mos Def) are childhood friends living in Passaic, New Jersey, trying to make ends meet. Jerry is the neighborhood mechanic and lives in a trailer near the power plant which he swears is slowly killing him with its “microwaves.” Across the street, Mike lives and works in the local video rental store, “Be Kind Rewind,” struggling to keep the ailing business owned by his boss, Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover) financially afloat and, physically, in one piece. Mr. Fletcher stubbornly refuses to modernize his store to the standards of the local chain DVD rental stores nearby.

According to Mr. Fletcher, the worn-down video store was also once home to Jazz legend, Fats Waller, who reportedly was born in the tiny location long before video tapes had been invented. Mr. Fletcher, a lifelong devotee to all things Fats Waller, decides to make the trip to commemorate Fats’ death, leaving Mike in charge of keeping the store in order, which means keeping the accident-prone Jerry away from the shop.

Later that day, Jerry decides the time has come to once and for all sabotage the town’s power plant, but he accidentally gets caught in an electromagnetic field. Jerry returns to the store the next morning, confused and disoriented, and begins wandering the aisles of the video store. Unknowingly, his magnetized brain erases every videotape in the store, forcing Mike and Jerry to concoct a plan to start “remaking” — or “swedeing” — all the erased films the townspeople want to rent in an effort for Mr. Fletcher to never find out.

Using a few hastily-made props and a video camera from the store, the duo start by creating their own version of Ghostbusters for their loyal customer, Miss Falewicz (Mia Farrow), who has never seen the film. The result is a complete and utter mess, but the ragtag filmmakers soon realize that in order for their ruse to work, they have to start remaking as many films as they can to keep their customers happy.

Realizing they will need help with their filmmaking efforts, Mike and Jerry enlist a worker at the local cleaners, Alma (Melonie Diaz), to help them in their quest. Using a few inventive camera tricks and some “special effects,” they’re movies become instant town classics. Surprisingly, word of mouth spreads about their hilarious “remakes” and the films become huge hits. Everyone starts coming in to request their favorite films to be remade. As the demand for their tapes booms, so does the size of their crew. Other people in the neighborhood start chipping in to re-envision various dramas, comedies, action films and even animated classics.

But with Hollywood lawyers at their door and the imminent return of Mr. Fletcher, Mike and Jerry must find a way to continue their creative endeavors and rally their community — and allow a tiny little store with huge aspirations to attempt to continue living.

New Line Cinema presents in association with Partizan Films, A Partizan Films Production, A Film By Michel Gondry — Be Kind Rewind. The film stars Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow, Melonie Diaz, Chandler Parker, Irv Gooch, Arjay Smith, Marcus Carl Franklin, Blake Hightower and Amir Ali Said.

The film is written and directed by Michel Gondry. The producers are Gondry, Julie Fong and Georges Bermann. The executive producers are Toby Emmerich and Guy Stodel and the co-producer is Ann Ruark.

Duration : 0:2:22

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