High Fidelity

UK Release Date. 21 July 2000
Certification. 15
Running Time. 1 hour 53 mins
Director. Stephen Frears
Cast. Jack Black, Lisa Bonet, Joan Cusack, John Cusack, Iben Hjejle, Todd Louiso, Tim Robbins, Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Rating. 65%

Review.

Uprooting Nick Hornby's decidedly British novel to Chicago was fraught with all sorts of potential for disaster, with the subtleties, nuances and textures of the original source material in danger of being lost in the transatlantic crossing from the Holloway Road. But do you know what? It works. Against all the odds, Stephen Frears has fashioned a funny, smart and intelligent adaptation by retaining most of the incident and attitude of Hornby’s novel, and adding a broader more accessible feel.

Even more impressive, the film manages to recapture the spirit of an independent record store, and the science behind the construction of a killer mix tape.

High Fidelity is a wonderfully crafted, incisive expose of the psyche of the musically-obsessed male (of a certain age). Musically, it finds the US equivalents of Hornby's UK lexicon; The Velvet Underground’s Oh! Sweet nuthin’, Bob Dylan’s Most of the time and the Beta Band’s majestic Dry the rain replace Elvis Costello’s Man out of time, The Smiths’ Last night I dreamt that somebody loved me, and Prefab Sprout’s When love breaks down. The music is integral to the three-way upmanship between,

• Rob (John Cusack), the owner of Championship Vinyl and compulsive list-maker [who guides us through his top five break-ups, including his current separation from Laura (Iben Hjejle)].
• Dick (Todd Louise), the shy, awkward, submissive employee, channelling the vibe of R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe.
• the exuberant Barry (Jack Black). Obnoxious, insensitive and gleefully sarcastic, Barry is the perfect antidote to Rob's navel-gazing, in a role that is tantamount to a preview of his portrayal of Dewey Finn in Richard Linklater's School Of Rock.

The chemistry between the three is on point.

As High Fidelity recalls Rob's all-time top five most memorable breakups, Rob grabs the opportunity to explain himself directly to the camera - an ingenious solution to the self-deprecating, confessional, first-person style of the source material. But it doesn't mean that we don’t judge him or exonerate him for his previous misdemeanours. If anything, Rob is kind of a jerk and his journey through his romantic past reveals how little he's grown over time. Rob thinks he's gaining an insight into his past - and passing it along to his confidants in the audience - but his behaviour in the present is saying everything about why he's so terrible with women.