"What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?"
Like Amelie, a film I reviewed a few weeks ago, High Fidelity is one of those films that are so great because they are so instantly relatable. John Cusack plays Rob Gordon, the music-loving owner of a Chicago record store. Two guys work for him, the "musical moron twins" Dick (Todd Louiso) and Barry (the hilarious as always Jack Black). At the beginning of the film, he breaks up with his girlfriend, Laura (Iben Hjejle), which inspires him to find out exactly what he's doing wrong with his relationships.
The reason why this film is so fantastic (to me, anyways) is because there's really so much to find in common with the character of Rob Gordon. I'm a huge music fan. I obsess over it, I compare albums with other albums. I have a music blog where I discuss it. Rob is the same way - he makes mixtapes, he and his friends compare "Top Five" lists - "Top Five Side One/Track Ones" for example - and they geek out about music through the entire film. Cusack narrates the entire film while looking through the camera at the audience as if he is telling you the story, and it makes it feel like you know the character personally instead of just watching him on screen. Nick Hornby, the British author who wrote the novel High Fidelity (where Rob Gordon is Rob Fleming and lives in London instead of Chicago), deserves quite a bit of the credit for this. I've read the novel as well, and a lot of the lines and "Top Five" lists are taken verbatim from the text. This may sound like a bad thing, but it's really not. It's nice to see a book-to-film adaptation work as well as High Fidelity does.
While music is a large part of the film, it's main focus is Rob's relationship with Laura and his past relationships with other girls. Relationships are something that every film touches on in some aspect, so it's a testament to the writing and acting that it works so well in this film. Because it's so easy to feel like you know Rob, his journey of self-examination is much more interesting and holds more emotional weight (at least that was how I felt). The ability of a film to grab you and make you care is one of the most important things for me. When I am able to feel that way, the movie is more interesting and effective in sharing it's message with the audience.
The film is also fairly humorous - Wikipedia even lists it as a Comedy/Drama. Aside from Jack Black's character, Barry, however, it's less of a blatant comedy (think Superbad) and is more witty and sarcastic. The type of humor really fits the tone of the film and the characters, however, and it really works well on screen.
Well I kind of feel like I'm writing a five paragraph essay for school, but in conclusion, High Fidelity really is the sum of three things - the music, relationships, and humor. The cast has great chemistry together, the acting is fantastic, and the adaptation from Hornby's novel is great. It's really a film that accomplishes what it set out to do and more.
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