Willa's Flic Pic: High Fidelity * * * * ½

High Fidelity
2000, Stephen Frears
Comedy
* * * * ½




Rob: Jon Dillinger was killed behind that theater in a hale of FBI gunfire. And do you know who tipped them off? His fucking girlfriend. All he wanted to do was go to the movies.
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Barry: I wanna date a musician.
Rob Gordon: I wanna live with a musician. She'd write songs at home and ask me what I thought of them, and maybe even include one of our little private jokes in the liner notes.
Barry: Maybe a little picture of me in the liner notes.
Dick: Just in the background somewhere.

I am a huge John Cusack fan. You may remember him from as far back as Sixteen Candles, A Sure Thing, or the more famous teen love comedy, Say Anything. He’s had a steady, successful career ever since. He slips most seamlessly into romantic comedies but you’ll find him easily tackling drama, action and suspense.

High Fidelity is about grown up relationships. Relationships with friends, lovers and self. Being grown up means commitment, taking risks and trusting. Rob Gordon (Cusack) is not grown up.

At the beginning of High Fidelity Rob’s long time girlfriend, Laura (Ibem Hjejle), is moving out. It’s obvious that Laura loves Rob but is frustrated with his failure to launch. This break-up sends Rob into a tailspin as he tries to reconcile Laura’s reasons for leaving and his truly deep love for her. To make sense of it all, Rob takes a self-absorbed trip down memory lane revisiting past relationships.

Rob Gordon is the quintessential Cusack role. Rob is self righteous and self deprecating at the same time. He has exceptional knowledge and appreciation for music but he does nothing with it except to own an out of the way record store. Each of his romantic relationships ends quickly because the thrill is gone and his emotional commitment is mediocre. And he’s managed to find friends that share in his musical elitism but is terrified by their willingness to take a risk.

High Fidelity is funny and witty and is Cusack at some of his best. He even was one of the writers for the screenplay. It’s based on a novel written by Nick Hornby who also wrote About a Boy which was also made into a movie starring Hugh Grant. It too is funny and witty and one of Hugh Grants best films.

NOTE: Be sure to watch the deleted scenes on the DVD. These typically are benign and boring but there is one scene where a lady wants to sell her husband’s record collection that is brilliant.