Be Kind Rewind

Jerry and Mike have known each other since they were children. Jerry is the local mechanic. He lives in a caravan and hates the power station next door that he is certain will one day kill him on account of all the radiation and electro smog. Mike lives on the other side of the street. He works at the local video store owned by Fletcher, a huge Fats Waller fan. The legendary jazz pianist once lived here and so Fletcher decides to go on a little trip in his memory. He asks Mike to look after the shop while he is away, and to keep a special eye out for Jerry who is capable of wreaking considerable damage once he gets going. On this day of all days Jerry decides that the time has come to bring the smog spewing power plant to a standstill. Jerry is so highly charged by his mission that, by the next morning, the electromagnetic field that surrounds him is enough to destroy all the films in Fletcher’s video store. What now? It would appear that the only way to retrieve Flet­cher’s collection is to produce remakes. And so Mike and Jerry set about cre­ating instant versions of the most popular videos. And unbelievably, these remakes turn out to be more popular that the originals. The demand for their work increases to such an extent that the budding filmmakers find themselves under considerable pressure to produce more films. Business is booming: the little town is in love with the friends’ films and everybody does their bit to support their remake industry. Before long Hollywood’s copyright lawyers hear of the cinematic heyday in their hick-town and legal claims are made that threaten to wipe out Fletcher’s little video store. A grand plan is what is needed! Maybe its time they thought about doing something on Fats Waller …