Mike (Mos Def) is working at a declining VHS rental store called Be Kind Rewind in Passaic, New Jersey. Mike's best friend Jerry (Jack Black) accompanies Mike while he works at the video store. Mike is fascinated by the story that Fats Waller, the legendary jazz musician, was born in the very store (according to the store's owner, Mr. Fletcher). Fletcher (Danny Glover) is informed by Passaic town officials that his store is scheduled to be demolished and replaced with a new building complex, unless he can raise funds to renovate his building. Mr. Fletcher decides to get ideas on how to increase business by spying on a successful chain of DVD rental stores. He puts Mike in charge of Be Kind Rewind while he is away. While leaving by train he writes a last-minute instruction on the window: "Keep Jerry out". Mike sees this in mirror image, and needs some time to decipher it.

Jerry lives in a trailer very close to a power plant, and is very concerned that this is unhealthy; he believes it may melt his brain. He asks Mike to join him in sabotaging the plant, but Mike refuses. Jerry tries to sabotage the plant on his own, but receives an electric shock, causing him to become magnetized. The next day, when Jerry goes to Be Kind Rewind to confront Mike for leaving him, his magnetized body erases all the tapes in the store.

The store's most loyal customer and Mr. Fletcher's friend, Miss Falewicz (Mia Farrow), comes to rent Ghostbusters. Fearing that he will lose Mr. Fletcher's trust, Mike suddenly comes up with the idea to completely remake the movie with him and Jerry as the stars; his logic being she is too 'kooky' to realise it's not the original. The two friends create the 20-minute remake using an old VHS camcorder and cheap special effects. Soon another customer requests the movie Rush Hour 2. During the filming of this movie, they enlist the help of a local woman named Alma (Melonie Diaz). During this, Alma helps to demagnetize Jerry by making him drink a bucket of salty water, which leads him to vomit and urinate in the streets, causing the magnetism to be expelled from his body via the urine. Eventually, Jerry, Mike and Alma create a system where customers come to request movies "sweded" (Jerry claims that the movies are from Sweden, which is the reason for the higher prices).

Business begins to pick up as the sweded videos are in high demand and eventually the local townspeople become involved in the sweding process. Mike and Jerry propose to Mr. Fletcher to use the increased revenue to fund the renovation of the store. However, two court bailiffs [one is Sigourney Weaver, leading lady of the original Ghostbusters] arrive at the store and confiscate the movies due to copyright violation. They crush them with a road roller. To add to their misery, Mike discovers from Mr. Fletcher that Fats Waller was not actually born in the store.

Jerry realizes that they can still make original films, and with support of the town, he goes to a depressed Mike for ideas. Mike conjures up the idea to make a movie about the fictional life of Fats Waller. The entire town, Mr. Fletcher included, creates the movie, including the fiction that he was the youngest of seven children, that his 6 siblings were killed by ninja gangsters, etc. Mike and Jerry break into a nearby video store in order to steal a video projector to present the movie on. Their attempt fails when they are caught by the store owner, who they discover is living inside of the store. Embarrassed, the store owner agrees to let them go. Mike and Jerry leave and decide to show the movie on the only T.V. they have, which is too small for everyone to enjoy. On the day of the premiere, the demolition crew arrives to destroy the store, as Mr. Fletcher was not able to repair the store in time. The crew cannot destroy the building with people inside. As Jerry attempts to raise the small T.V. for all to see, it falls and breaks. Fortunately, the video store owner from the night before had realized the boys were attempting to steal his projector and brought it for them to use. They set up a sheet over the window for it to project on. Mr. Fletcher is warned by the demolition leader that he has one hour to watch the movie and then evacuate the store. The citizens proudly watch their movie with each other. Mr. Fletcher, Jerry, and Mike go outside to find that their movie could be seen from outside. A large crowd of people had gathered outside to watch the movie. The crowd is very pleased with the film, and begins to cheer when the three men come outside. The man organizing the demolition smiles and pats Mr. Fletcher on the back, and the film fades out (which may leave the actual fate of the store ambiguous).

• Official Movie Web Site

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