Contributing Reporter

The film industry is nearing the point —  if it isn’t there already— where special effects no longer matter. Technology has simply advanced so far that effects aren’t really a relevant gauge of a film’s quality anymore. 

Certainly some are more convincing than others, but there are really only so many times filmmakers can expect audiences to watch New York City being destroyed and still be impressed by it.

Michel Gondry is a sort of reaction to this. Gondry made his name directing music videos in the ‘90s.

He followed that aesthetic into his feature-length film career. “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” was a manic visual representation of the human psyche that relied slightly on CGI, though the most interesting scenes involved distorted perspectives, hidden doors and two very willing leads. 

But Gondry’s newest film, “Be Kind Rewind,” marks the first time the whimsical imagery alone doesn’t quite equate engaging cinema. 

The plot centers on Mos Def and Jack Black, two guys manning a video rental/thrift store in Passaic, N.J., who accidentally erase their store’s entire film library and decide to record their own versions as replacements. 

But the plot is mostly an inconsequential excuse for Gondry to show off his latest cardboard-related film techniques. The characters don’t grow or accomplish, so much as they hang around and make funny videos.

The videos are hilarious; it’s the movie around them that needs some work. 

For a film that subtly implies Hollywood has turned cinema into a homogenized and formulaic exercise in by-committee design, “Rewind” feels a bit too much like it’s playing it safe.

Still, even if it doesn’t quite prove its own point — that the hand-made and authentic beats glossy grandeur — it’s at least refreshing to see someone attempt to change the world of cinema for the better. 

The abrupt ending to the film feels altogether too close to the Hollywood sentimentalism “Be Kind Rewind” rebels against. The emotional resonance, however, is still there. 

If nothing else, Gondry has succeeded in making a film for the masses without losing what made him inspiring in the first place.