After a bizarre electrical accident in a power plant magnetizes the already whacked-out Jerry Gerber (Jack Black playing Jack Black), he unwittingly erases all the videos in his friend’s very-behind-the-times video store. To save the store (and in a convoluted way, their entire fading New Jersey neighborhood) the two buddies go about restocking the shelves with homemade versions of the missing films.
I was intrigued by the premise but ultimately disappointed by director Michel Gondry’s most recent film. The segments featuring Jerry and Mike (Mos Def) making their films guerrilla style in the neighborhood, employing friends and strangers to help, were fun but the over arching story, centering on store owner Elroy Fletcher (Danny Glover) and the myth of Fats Waller, was dull. Plus, there was too much uncontrolled Jack Black and far too much Mia Farrow, as a dotty customer, for my taste.
~ I give it 2 out of 5 blank video cassettes.
