On the surface, “Be Kind Rewind” seems like just another tepid Jack Black comedy. But don't be fooled: this love-letter to the art of filmmaking from indie director Michel Gondry (“Eternal Sunshine,” “Science of Sleep”) is leagues away from the likes of “Shallow Hal.“ Gondry, a DIY throwback and a big believer in creativity over visual cleverness, makes movies that seem to play exactly like they do in his supercharged imagination. His latest is about Jerry (Black) and Mike (Def), two New Jersey vidiots who accidentally erase their store’s entire VHS catalogue, and find both solution and celebration in remaking the 80s and 90s cult classics.

Like kids on a lazy Sunday afternoon, the duo “swedes” (a meaningless term Jerry invents to make it sound more European) everything from “Driving Miss Daisy” to “Robocop” using hysterically cheap special effects made of cardboard and old Christmas garlands. This refreshingly innocent approach turns out to be far more entertaining than the originals, and soon the entire neighborhood is demanding more.

But “Be Kind Rewind“ is more than just a side-splitting mash-up mortifying the movies you both love and love to hate. Coupled alongside this uproarious exercise in junkyard film jams is the classic bittersweet tale of gentrification—the video store, a historical jazz landmark, is threatened with repositioning unless the clerks can churn out enough “swedes” to raise $60,000. The achingly melancholy neighborhood scenes, while at times slow and rambling, do contrast well against the home-video snippets, demonstrating how suffering and despair can often inspire imagination and hope.

It’s hard to define the point of “Be Kind Rewind”—is it a silly excuse to lampoon Hollywood blockbusters? A satirization of decreasing attention spans and imaginations? I’d like to think that the somewhat senseless plot and crumbling old neighborhood subtext isn’t as important as the celebration of not only filmmaking, but the good old nostalgic joy of watching cherished movies with fresh eyes. Because more than anything, movies are meant to be fun, and this certainly is. Pavan Shamdasani

4 Stars by Pavan Shamdasani

Directed by Michel Gondry. Starring Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover,
Mia Farrow. Category IIA. 101 Minutes.