High Fidelity
"High Fidelity", with John Cusack, Joan Cusack, Jack Black, Todd Louiso, Iben Hjejle, Lisa Bonet, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Tim Robbins. Cameos by Dick Cusack, Susie Cusack and Bruce Springsteen. Directed by Stephen Frears. From a novel by Nick Hornby, screenplay by D.V. DeVincentis, Steve Pink, John Cusack and Scott Michael Rosenberg. MPAA rating R for language and sexuality. Run time 116 minutes.
John Cusack is Rob Gordon, owner of Championship Vinyl, a hand-to-mouth record store in Bucktown. Rob is an angry young man, convinced that every woman he's ever know has dumped him just because that's the way things have always been, and somehow, the breakups have always had a soundtrack - "What came first - the misery or the music?" - a soundtrack that Rob knows better than he knows himself - way better.
ROB'S TOP FIVE MOST MEMORABLE BREAKUPS
1. Alison Ashmore
2. Penny Hardwick
3. Charlie Nicholson
4. Jackie Allen
5. Sarah Kendrew
Rob, like many hard-core music buffs, has a compulsion to categorize things into groups - top five lists a specialty. When his girlfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle) leaves him, his therapy is to reorganize his massive record collection by "autobiographical importance". Rob is so totally self-absorbed that he has never quite gotten over the girl that dumped him in the seventh grade (Alison) or any of the others in the top five, either.
Rob's self-absorption extends to his store, which he shares with Dick and Barry, (Todd Louiso and Jack Black) Dick being the musically knowledgeable but socially inept geek, and Barry as the Music Store Stormtrooper. You know the type - you know he knows what you're looking for, but you're afraid to ask for it because he's all but guaranteed to laugh you out of the store. Asking this guy for something by Kenny G is a guaranteed blindfolded third and long play in the Abuse Bowl. (It bears mentioning that record stores aren't the only natural habitat for the Barrys of the world - there are camera store stormtroopers, lumber yard stormtroopers, stereo equipment stormtroopers, moovie review stormtroopers, bartender stormtroopers - believe me, the list goes on.)
As Rob suffers and suffers, it rains and rains. There's nothing quite as desolate and gut-wrenchingly lonely as a rainy night on Lower Wacker. The rain as metaphor for sorrow is a bit overdone, to the point of just being obvious. Cusack's ongoing conversation with the camera also gets a bit tiring at times, but I can't imagine this moovie being resolved any other way - he simply goes through too much examination and realization to wrap it all up without telling us his feelings directly. I'm also told that "High Fidelity" is very faithful to the Nick Hornby cult fave novel, and sometimes dancing that closely with a novel creates a somewhat long-winded choreography unless it resorts to a few gimmicks. In any case, Cusack pulls it off.
The best part about "High Fidelity" for me, sensitive guy that I am, is the sense of balance. For every pig-headed "guy" trait he exhibits, Rob is matched, fault for fault with women who manipulate him and express the same selfishness, defensive behavior and lack of communication. While most of Rob's relationships are doomed from the start, he can only take credit for not being able to see his own faults.
I really enjoyed the quirky insider point of view of "High Fidelity", especially the social constructs that music buffs use to position themselves in relationships. If you've never sweated the details and pacing in booting off a "compilation tape" for someone you had the hot screaming weasels for, you've never lived. Or maybe you have, depending on your frame of reference.
John Cusack is still, to my way of thinking, one of the most underrated actors around today, and at the helm of his own production company, you can expect John to provide better and better parts for himself (and the rest of the Cusack clan). The ensemble cast of "High Fidelity" works well in a screenplay that has to cover a lot of ground to get the story told.
"High Fidelity" was fun to watch, start to finish. Director Stephen Frears kept the pace consistent as Rob marched slowly toward something resembling maturity and enlightenment. You'll likely come away with a renewed appreciation for supporting actors, especially the record store goons. They're the foundation that supports the entire moovie.
See "High Fidelity" - it's fun, and while you're at it, play a little Marvin Gaye for me and my three and a half cows.
Now, for my top five bald guys in music....
John Cusack is Rob Gordon, owner of Championship Vinyl, a hand-to-mouth record store in Bucktown. Rob is an angry young man, convinced that every woman he's ever know has dumped him just because that's the way things have always been, and somehow, the breakups have always had a soundtrack - "What came first - the misery or the music?" - a soundtrack that Rob knows better than he knows himself - way better.
ROB'S TOP FIVE MOST MEMORABLE BREAKUPS
1. Alison Ashmore
2. Penny Hardwick
3. Charlie Nicholson
4. Jackie Allen
5. Sarah Kendrew
Rob, like many hard-core music buffs, has a compulsion to categorize things into groups - top five lists a specialty. When his girlfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle) leaves him, his therapy is to reorganize his massive record collection by "autobiographical importance". Rob is so totally self-absorbed that he has never quite gotten over the girl that dumped him in the seventh grade (Alison) or any of the others in the top five, either.
Rob's self-absorption extends to his store, which he shares with Dick and Barry, (Todd Louiso and Jack Black) Dick being the musically knowledgeable but socially inept geek, and Barry as the Music Store Stormtrooper. You know the type - you know he knows what you're looking for, but you're afraid to ask for it because he's all but guaranteed to laugh you out of the store. Asking this guy for something by Kenny G is a guaranteed blindfolded third and long play in the Abuse Bowl. (It bears mentioning that record stores aren't the only natural habitat for the Barrys of the world - there are camera store stormtroopers, lumber yard stormtroopers, stereo equipment stormtroopers, moovie review stormtroopers, bartender stormtroopers - believe me, the list goes on.)
As Rob suffers and suffers, it rains and rains. There's nothing quite as desolate and gut-wrenchingly lonely as a rainy night on Lower Wacker. The rain as metaphor for sorrow is a bit overdone, to the point of just being obvious. Cusack's ongoing conversation with the camera also gets a bit tiring at times, but I can't imagine this moovie being resolved any other way - he simply goes through too much examination and realization to wrap it all up without telling us his feelings directly. I'm also told that "High Fidelity" is very faithful to the Nick Hornby cult fave novel, and sometimes dancing that closely with a novel creates a somewhat long-winded choreography unless it resorts to a few gimmicks. In any case, Cusack pulls it off.
The best part about "High Fidelity" for me, sensitive guy that I am, is the sense of balance. For every pig-headed "guy" trait he exhibits, Rob is matched, fault for fault with women who manipulate him and express the same selfishness, defensive behavior and lack of communication. While most of Rob's relationships are doomed from the start, he can only take credit for not being able to see his own faults.
I really enjoyed the quirky insider point of view of "High Fidelity", especially the social constructs that music buffs use to position themselves in relationships. If you've never sweated the details and pacing in booting off a "compilation tape" for someone you had the hot screaming weasels for, you've never lived. Or maybe you have, depending on your frame of reference.
John Cusack is still, to my way of thinking, one of the most underrated actors around today, and at the helm of his own production company, you can expect John to provide better and better parts for himself (and the rest of the Cusack clan). The ensemble cast of "High Fidelity" works well in a screenplay that has to cover a lot of ground to get the story told.
"High Fidelity" was fun to watch, start to finish. Director Stephen Frears kept the pace consistent as Rob marched slowly toward something resembling maturity and enlightenment. You'll likely come away with a renewed appreciation for supporting actors, especially the record store goons. They're the foundation that supports the entire moovie.
See "High Fidelity" - it's fun, and while you're at it, play a little Marvin Gaye for me and my three and a half cows.
Now, for my top five bald guys in music....
