The peculiar and gentle Be Kind Rewind marks the finest work to date from French director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep). It's a whimsical and hopelessly nostalgic zoetrope into New Jersey life through the eyes of Jerry (Jack Black) and Mike (Mos Def), a pair of so-dumb-they're-profound video store employees faced with the insurmountable task of re-recording hundreds of VHS cassettes that have been blanked by the fact that Jerry has become "magnetised" (no, really).

In order to satisfy their small band of dedicated customers, they decide to make their own versions of the store's catalogue, which Jerry calls "sweding", for complex and obscure reasons. The films they take to task include, but are hardly limited to, The Lion King, Boyz N the Hood, When We Were Kings, Ghostbusters and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Although ostensibly taking the piss, Gondry handles the most ignoble of these titles (Rush Hour 2, Men in Black, Robocop) with the reverence of a true film fanatic.

Be Kind Rewind is virtually without precedent or comparison. While relentlessly self-aware, it never breaks rank to wink at the audience, as doing so would push its demeanour into the realm of narky post-modernity - which is poles away from its lovely mien. It will not, however, be a much-loved film. It's too hokey, too clever by half, and way, way too strange to be embraced even by the audiences who rushed to praise Gondry after his previous successes. Rather, this one feels like a cult oddity destined to be dug up in some obscure format in future years, only to be appreciated exclusively by that rare cineaste who cultivates a sense of whimsy.