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High Fidelity [2000]
from Touchstone Home Video
starring John Cusack, Iben Hjejle, Todd Louiso, Jack Black, Lisa Bonet
directed by Stephen Frears

Features:

• PAL
• Widescreen

Editorial Review:

Transplanted from England to the not-so-mean streets of Chicago, the screen adaptation of Nick Hornby's cult-classic novel High Fidelity emerges unscathed from its Americanisation, idiosyncrasies intact, thanks to John Cusack's inimitable charm and a nimble, nifty screenplay (co-written by Cusack). Early-thirtysomething Rob Gordon (Cusack) is a slacker who owns a vintage record shop, a massive collection of LPs, and innumerable top-five lists in his head. At the opening of the film, Rob recounts directly to the audience his all-time top-five breakups-- which doesn't include his recent falling out with his girlfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle), who has just moved out of their apartment. Thunderstruck and obsessed with Laura's desertion (but loath to admit it), Rob begins a quest to confront the women who instigated the aforementioned top-five breakups to find out just what he did wrong.

Low on plot and high on self-discovery, High Fidelity takes a good 30 minutes or so to find its groove (not unlike Cusack's Grosse Pointe Blank), but once it does, it settles into it comfortably and builds a surprisingly touching momentum. Rob is basically a grown-up version of Cusack's character in Say Anything (who was told "Don't be a guy--be a man!"), and if you like Cusack's brand of smart-alecky romanticism, you'll automatically be won over (if you can handle Cusack's almost non-stop talking to the camera). Still, it's hard not to be moved by Rob's plight. At the beginning of the film he and his coworkers at the record store (played hilariously by Jack Black and Todd Louiso) seem like overgrown boys in their secret clubhouse; by the end, they've grown up considerably, with a clear-eyed view of life. Ably directed by Stephen Frears (Dangerous Liaisons), High Fidelity features a notable supporting cast of the women in Rob's life, including the striking, Danish-born Hjejle, Lisa Bonet as a sultry singer/songwriter, and the triumphant triumvirate of Lili Taylor, Joelle Carter, and Catherine Zeta Jones as Rob's ex-girlfriends. With brief cameos by Tim Robbins as Laura's new, New Age boyfriend and Bruce Springsteen as himself. --Mark Englehart, Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

• A very good movie.
  Now this film did take me a while to warm up to. The first two times I tried to watch it I was rather bored, though whether this is because I'm a woman, I'm not entirely sure. However the third time I watched it all the way through, and it honestly blew my mind. Cusack's performance's in movies are generally underrated, but here he generates utter brilliance, so much so that he kind of ruined the book for me, as I kept hearing his American voice for an English character.

• Doesn't quite make my top 5 films, but it's still good.
  A bloke flick - exploring the emotional wreckage of a man coming to terms with rejection. We've seen it many a time with a female lead, but now we get to see it from a mans point of view.
  Cussack brings energy to a role which is pretty, well... unenergetic. This is a slow burning film, and you often don't realise that you're enjoying it until it's finished. It's a cultural gem with top five lists galore and some fantastic music - but being set in a music shop, I suppose you expect that.
  Rob... more info

• Great film at a great price
  John Cusack plays the role of a somewhat "failed" record shop owner here, where the film surrounds what he considers to be his 'Top 5' failed girl-friends.. for various reasons!
  To some, this may seem a particularly long and drawn out film. However, I find it quite fitting that the steady pace of the film reflects the lives of the main characters, including a suprise role from Jack Black as an obsessive record-holic who would have a break down if you dissed the wrong rock bands! The acting is smooth... more info

• my two pennies worth
  high fidelity, originally a book by nick hornby, follows the break up of a relationship between rob and laura mainly through the eyes of rob. rob runs and owns a record shop, a real record shop not a virgin mega store or anything. the film opens with rob asking if people are miserable because they listen to pop music or do they listen to pop music because they are miserable, the major thing in robs life and the film is songs. the two major comic sources within the film are dick and barry, barry is an over... more info

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