High Fidelity
Don't you just love movies where the characters and their situations remind you of your own life? No movie can replicate your life verbatim, but those that have realistic characters in realistic situations speaking realistic dialogue are my favorites. That's why "High Fidelity" works so well for me. It's movie with a rather simply, calm story about a guy who pines over lost loves and discusses pop music history with his friends and it's fascinating.
The film works on two levels: as a breezy portrait of modern-day GenX and GenYers who haven't really grown up yet and can still cherish, savor and appreciate spending most of the their time hanging with friends and rapping about their favorite CDs, TV shows and movies. So many people believe it's the little things in life that bring people together and make relationships work and the theme of "High Fidelity" exemplifies this when the main character Rob (John Cusack), is pining over his latest breakup and says, "It's not what YOU'RE like, it's WHAT you like."
Cusack delivers one of his finest performances to date playing a character that's an assemblage of virtually every other characters he's played before. He also co-wrote and co-produced the film which works to his advantage all that much more. Rob Gordon is a GenXer in his late 20's who owns a used record store called Championship Vinyl. Business isn't exactly booming and most of the customers are personal friends of Rob's and his two employees': the hyperactive, bossy music snob Barry (Jack Black) and the quiet, low-key, almost masochistic Dick (Todd Louiso). Barry insults potential customers and guilts surviving ones into buying more vinyl albums ("What do you mean you don't own 'Blonde on Blonde'!? For God's sake don't tell anyone!" he says as he stacks another record on a stack a schmuck customer's carrying thereby totally obscuring his vision). Dick is Barry's whipping boy who's too much of an introvert to so much stand by his convictions, let alone raise his voice.
"I can't fire these guys. I hired them for only three days a week and they just kept showing up. That was four years ago," says Rob.
As the film opens Rob's in the middle of a break-up with longtime girlfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle). They've been living together and she's slowly moving her stuff out. Where's she's going to and why she's leaving aren't clear. The film doesn't go into a lot of detail and drama over their relationship, not at first at least. Instead, it's a catalyst for Rob to tell us all about himself - how he is doomed to be left, rejected and heartbroken. He launches into a "Top Five" list of his all-time most painful breakups, from the girl he went out with for three days in a row in seventh grade to the present day.
The first half to two-thirds of the film is lighthearted character humor with the occasional check back to Rob and Laura's relationship, or what's left of it. The film does an excellent job in balancing these two separate stories of Rob's life within and outside of his relationship. There's so many great scenes of Rob hanging with Dick and Barry at bars and clubs making lists of the best songs ever and pondering about what it'd be like to date a musician who might include one of their jokes in the liner notes of their album. There's also flashbacks to the other breakups on his list, which stay within the confines of the lighthearted story and never get too serious despite the fact they're all about rejection. The only really "serious" aspects to the film are when Rob and Laura talk and argue about whether they can patch things up and what the future holds. The story will take a very serious turn as it winds down, teetering on melodrama but makes amends by having a slightly unusual but charming ending.
If I had to cite the film for any major flaws it would be for how it deals with Rob and Laura's post-relationship relationship. This is a romantic comedy to be sure, which means a touch of the intense is a given but the screenplay is a just a bit choppy. The reason they broke up has to do with Rob having slept with someone else and Laura having an abortion without even telling him. Little detail is revealed about this aspect which I think is a necessity. If they were such a great couple why did Rob cheat and who did he do it with? And what's the deal with this new guy Laura's seeing? He's a New Age guru named Ian who eats a lot of organic food, listens to "whatever world music is popular this week" and supposedly has the best sex in the world (played by Tim Robbins with tongue firmly in cheek). For a film that's so relatable this seems just a bit out of place, although when we examine Rob's other breakups he's always been dumped for a guy who's a total jerk.
I guess it's not the point, really. The payoff comes not in Rob's efforts to get Laura back (however unsuccessful and/or funny they may be), but in those moments where he opens up inside and says the reasons he REALLY misses Laura. Of course they involve the little things she did and other such characteristics which keeps with the film's theme. These romantic aspects to "High Fidelity" work on so many more levels and are so much more appreciable than most dramas try to do so much more forcibly (i.e. "The English Patient," "Bounce").
It's difficult to say what the best aspect to "High Fidelity" is. I love how the characters talk about real things and have real problems. I love the production design that makes every single set in the film look like a real place (the fact most of it was shot on location may be a reason why). And I absolutely adore the technique of having Rob speak directly to the camera, not just in scenes where he's alone in a room but scenes where there's people all around him. Everyone wants to have an anonymous outlet and we play that role for Rob. There's also a some smart fantasy scenes such as when Rob dreams of confronting Ian or when he asks Bruce Springsteen if he's one of "The Boss's" songs come to life.
If there's any justice young men around the world will realize "High Fidelity" is probably the perfect film to watch on a date because it will inspire so much conversation. As Rob said, it's not what you're like, it's WHAT you like and I can't imagine anyone not liking this film.
GRADE: A
[Critic's note: This is a re-write of a capsule review I initially wrote back in April. It's the best movie I've seen so far this year and I thought I should give it a proper full-length review if I name it the best movie of 2000. So I rented it and realized it was even better than I had given it credit for. So here's a proper, honest review. The original capsule review can be read here.]
Think of it as a really mature Kevin Smith flick (but not TOO mature), there's tons of discussions analyzing pop culture and music and relationships with an added dash of brash comedy and the like. The comedy and the drama (the main plot about Cusack's recent break-up with his long-time girlfriend and his attempt to win her back) balance nicely - so that you have one scene of serious human interaction and the next is banter about "Top five side A's, track 1's."
It's a cute movie that has more to offer than the typical Hollywood romantic comedy. Probably one of the best [first] date flicks to be released in a long time.
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