Genres

Visitors Review

2012-05-25 05:17:04

Why do I like this movie -- my two cents

This review is from: High Fidelity (DVD) I read others' reviews with great deal of amusement. When a movie can elicit such polarized feedback, it's got something interesting. My feeling is that regardless how "unlikeable" or "likeable" Mr. Cusack and Mr. Black's characters are, they seem real to me. I can relate to them as people I know in real life. It is really important for a contemporary comedy about relationships like this one to have characters people can relate to. As for the music, the record store characters are your everyday music lovers. Some they like, some they don't. And we all know that musical taste is highly subjective and personal. The self-dialoguing in Mr. Cusack's Rob to me is as close to a honest confession of a man's view point as can be. How Rob sees women and relationships are how many men (regardless of age) see women and relationships. Men are in general not as self-aware and as emotionally mature as women are (not a put-down here). This movie gives me an insight into how men's mind at work on a sub-conscious level.This movie deserves a 5 star because of its realness and the great ensemble cast. A true conversational topic if you ever wanted to talk about relationship and movie in a social situation. :)

2012-05-24 09:59:21

An OK Date Film But Otherwise Weak

This is supposed to be an adult comedy; well perhaps to the extent it has no jokes about body functions. There is some good acting all around but not much of a story. Cusack has a fantasy job; no boss, no apparent concern about cash flow or creditors. And a fantasy girlfriend; attractive, slim, blond, high paying job, professional degree, wealthy parents, expensive car. Hey, isn't that supposed to be the guy?The conflict stems from the fact that Cusack hasn't grown up yet. He doesn't grow up in the film either. He spends so much time talking to the camera it ends up as a little bit of a movie superimposed over Cusack's monologue. I welcomed the closing credits just to hear him shut up. To add to the annoyance he chain smokes through the whole thing.To be fair it's probably a good date movie but nothing more. And if the date goes really well neither of you will care much if you miss most of this movie.A lot of people seem to like it though. I'm probably too long out of college to relate. For a much better romantic comedy with Cusack see Grosse Point Blank.

Ben Walsh 2012-05-20 17:46:48

Ultimately, there are no complaints about this extremely likeable and watchable comedy romance

The locale has shifted from North London to Chicago, but the same writingteam that gave us the sublime Grosse Pointe Blank have cleverly capturedtheessence of Hornby's book. Cusack plays Rob Gordon, an indolent recordstoreowner who works with two enormous muso-bores (played with perfectcringe-worthiness by Louiso and Black) and has just split from hissensiblelaywer girlfriend Laura (Danish-born Hjejle, whose American accent islittletoo stern). Gordon greets us (to camera - which remarkably works) with thewords "What came first music or misery?" and then proceeds to run throughhis "top five breakups of all time". Using flashback (another techniquethatrarely works) to good effect, we are treated to a couple of memorablecameosfrom Catherine Zeta Jones and Lili Taylor (both making up for theirappearances in The Haunting). Ultimately, there are no complaints aboutthisextremely likeable and watchable comedy romance, which is also that veryrare beast - laugh-out-loud funny.

Dan Grant 2012-05-19 22:02:25

One the most intelligent and funny looks at dating against a backdrop of music

Warning: does contain spoilersWomen, do you ever wonder why a man just can't seem to settle down? Do youever cringe and shudder when you realize how vacilating men seem to be, andnot just a few of them but all of them? Here you are, this beautiful,intelligent career orientated women and you are full of verve and love. Andyou think you've found the right guy and things are great. But thensuddenly, apathy comes knocking on your door and now it seems that you havelost your man. Ever experience that or know how that feels? Well, so doesthis film.Has anyone out there ever known someone that seems to be obsessesd witheither the world of music or the world of film. I mean the kind of guywhere he can tell you not only the name of a song from 1979 but who it wasmade for or what the flip side of that single was? Or a guy that can listhis record collection in chronological order that they were bought? Wellthis film does know guys like this because they exist here, in this smallrecord store in Chicago.High Fidelity is one of the most original films to come out of Hollywood inquite some time. It combines the backdrop of music and the foreground ofdating and both worlds are hilariously dissected and an honest attempt isgiven to help us all understand the cataclysmic world of one and theobsessive world of the other, you figure out which world is destined forwhich.John Cusack plays Rob. Rob is a small record store owner that specializesin hard to find records, or better yet, records that the fascist staff thinkis worthy for people to buy. The other two guys that work there arepathetic in their own way. Dick and Barry are complete opposites but onething that is clear is their love for music. Dick is a shy and submissiveman that has many opinions but doesn't give them out as noxiously as Barry. Barry on the other hand, thinks mainstream music is the plague and onlymusic he deams worthy is even permitted to cogitate about in the store. Anymodicum, any scent of an artist like Stevie Wonder or Bryan Adams is frownedupon, God only knows what he would be like if Britney Spears was mentioned. These two characters provide much of the comedy in the but it is such anintelligent and original way to do it. It is refreshing to see comedy trysomething new every once in a while. I am not opposed to films like RoadTrip and American Pie ( I actually like them very much ) but once in a whileit is cleansing to see Hollywood come out with somethingoriginal.The crux of the film is about Rob's inability to stay with one woman. Hecan always find something wrong with them and this in turn causes him tobreak up with them or they seem to find him banal and they leave him. Fromthese experience, Rob starts his top five list. This list consists of topfive things about everything. Top five records about.. top five songsabout... and top five breakups. Laura is his latest break-up and he doesnot want to give her the pleasure of admitting her to the top five so hegoes on telling himself how worthless she really was. But as the film goeson he can't get her out of his head and wants her back badly. Now this iswhere most films take the course that is subscribed to as Romance 101. Thisis where scriptwriters set up the love interest, take it away, and then therest of the film kinetically involves the one party proving to the otherparty that he is worthy of her. End of story, they live happily ever after. But High Fidelity is different. Laura is different. Laura knows what Robis like, she has spent the last two years of her life with him and she isnot going to come back that easily. And it is here that Rob goes on one ofthe most honest and complete journeys that I have seen a character gothrough. Sure he learns about himself and wants to change that, but it iswhat he learns about himself that is the fascinating part. " Then I began to realize that they only have one pair of frilly redunderwear. The rest is just regular cotton."Rob begins to learn that the idea of the perfect relationship is just afantasy, and in fantasies, nothing ever goes wrong. But eventually thosefantasies turn into six month relationships and work is actually involvedand spontaneous sex on the floor turns into sex on the weekend, on a bed,between the hours of midnight and one in the morning. It's not to say thatrelationships get stagnant and boring, but they are not sex on a first dateeither.High Fidelity is honest, smart and incredibly original and funny in so manyways. But it is the honesty that I enjoyed about the film the most, well,that and Barry. After all, a film that can tell you why men are as mobileas they are and then can end it with a man that apparently has no talentsinging his guts out and sounding like Barry White, well it is a treat. Films don't come out like this often and that is because they are smart. Smart is not easy to do in Hollywood.9 out of 10 ( also look for a hilarious cameo by Tim Robbins)

2012-05-15 02:45:51

High Fidelity

This film is definately worth a watch, not only is it incredibly witty, not only does it have a great sound track that rocks, not only does it have a great cast of not-so-well known actors doing a first class job, but you know exactly what this guy feels like, you've been there and done that, and at the end you know what you've got is the best you're going to get because the dream of lingerie scattered across your bedroom floor, boys, is just a fantasy. The cotton knickers that have been through the wash sixteen hundred times is reality and what matters!!! Confused? Watch High Fidelity.

moviemanMA 2012-05-14 21:24:03

The Perfect Comedy

Music and movies are like white on rice. It's the perfect blend ofsight and sound that can make or break a film. Even when sound wasn'tavailable for pictures, music was still played when people saw them.Movies about music have been produced and music about movies have beenrecorded. Sometimes, one of these films just stands out...High Fidelity is a comedy about Rob Gordan (John Cusack), a recordstore owner/operator who has recently split with his girlfriend Laura(Iben Hjejle) and now is trying to get it all together. The movie openswith her leaving and Rob giving us his top five list of the mostpainful breakups. At work, his two "employees" Dick (Todd Louiso) andBarry (Jack Black) share his passion for music and to tell people thatwhat to listen to. The top five motif is present throughout the entiremovie, giving it a unique take on life. Rob cheated on Laura, borrowedmoney from Laura and hasn't given it back to her, and caused Laura tohave an abortion. He pretty much feels like a jerk, but it all goesaway when he finds out that she is living with Ian Raymond (TimRobbins), his former neighbor known as "Ray".When Rob realizes that he is miserable from thinking about his breakupsfrom past years, he has an epiphany. If he just confronts each oneindividually, the pain will go away. To just see that they have movedon so he can move on as well, but the anguish over Laura resonates dueto the fact that she keeps coming over to get her stuff. Now Rob mustfigure out if he should just move or try to make amends with Laura andget back together.Stephen Frears directs and his style is perfect for the story. Goingfrom flashback to reality to dreamworld and back to realityeffortlessly is quite an accomplishment. He takes Nick Hornby's bookand makes it into something amazing. Cusack is fantastic as the funny,sometimes self loathing music enthusiast. He narrates just about theentire movie and some of the dialogue he gives us is priceless. Blackand Louiso seem to be on opposite ends of the rock and roll spectrumbut they come together to appreciate the art of making music even withtheir sometimes totally different styles. Black is very energetic asthe self-proclaimed 'know it all' of rock music and Louiso is the calm,quiet rocker. Even Hjejle and Cusack's sister Joan give greatperformances. All together the cast did incredibly well.High Fidelity is one of the funniest and most creative comedies to hitthe big screen. It is a perfect movie to just pop in one night andenjoy. It's a great date movie, buddy movie, or anytime movie. Thismovie will have you making 'top five' list's in no time...

Uxo the Italian 2012-05-12 11:09:44

Great Feel Good Comedy

After seeing this film, I've only good things to say about it. The moviemakes you laugh the whole way through with excellent acting by John Cusackand fine support by the other actors/actresses. Watch for Trent Black'svery funny performance. For all you guys out there who've gone through onrelationship after the other, this film's for you.

2012-05-12 03:25:05

Music geeks unite

Some of the comments I've seen so far indicate a distaste for the moviebecause it wasn't enough like Reality Bites, Clerks, or Empire Records, andI think it shows a generational gap. The people that will really, reallyGETIT are probably slightly older...30+ perhaps, but not more than 40-45.Anyone who's ever dabbled in rock and roll minutiae ("There's no 'the' inthat title!") will see themselves in this movie, for better or for worse.I've worked with these guys, I've been these guys, and because of that,it'stotally hilarious. If you're too young, most of the references will slideright past you, just like Reality Bites (one of the referenced movies)slides right past me. If you've never been involved with music thatheavily,you may still enjoy the humour, but maybe not to the same extent. Caveatemptor.

2012-05-05 04:43:27

P.O.S. Read the book.

What an offense to frontal lobes everywhere. The book was a riot, the characters were engaging AND REAL, not like these nihilist puppets. A waste of every actor in the film (all of whose work I have enjoyed elsewhere but each of whom owes me a handwritten letter of apology for this one). Mr. Springsteen, how could you have given 30 seconds of your valuable time to this pile of festering refuse? I wish Amazon allowed no-star reviews.

tedwards77 2012-05-04 19:24:47

Top 5 questions about High Fidelity

1)In what way did John Cusack (Rob) change to account for his other half,actually having a complete about turn on her feelings forhim?2)Exactly what sort of music did the Jack Black character actually like, asit seemed completely inconsistent throughout the film?3)Where was there anything funny is this film?4)What actually happened in the film? Really happened? There wasn't a thingto be gained from seeing this.5)How the hell is it on the Top 250 of all time, especially consideringeveryone I know detests it.Crap.

hifarers 2012-04-29 15:14:45

A movie that engages you to participate

Here's a movie that engages you to participate. John Cusack talks to theaudience and the story is built up from there. This "talking to theaudience" is not there just for laughs as is the case in some movies. Aminimum of sight gags (ala Something About Mary) 'cos most important inthismovie is the story and the story is funny and bittersweet.Highly enjoyable watch.

lndkramer 2012-04-29 09:46:25

Cool movie

High Fidelity was a really cool movie. I couldn't see anyone besidesJohn Cusack playing that lead role. It's funny how he always ends up inthe rain in his movies though. He's borderline pathetic in this moviebut I think it's pretty realistic. When he rants on about his girlproblems and reads his lists, I could listen to that all day. He makesit interesting. Jack Black also plays a very funny part. I think thismovie got him noticed. Good romantic comedy movie. Different and a bitquirky but that's what's cool about it, and just about all of Cusack'smovies. It's also funny to see Tim Robbins pop up out of left fieldwith small comedic roles like the one in this movie.

2012-04-27 08:23:49

High Praise for High Fidelity

This is one of those rare movies that can appeal to both men and women. It is seldom that a movie comes along that you can look at and realize that it proves excellent points from all of its points of view. This film adds humor to drama in a way that will keep you involved and laughing from the very begining. John Cusack may be brilliant, but Jack Black steals every scene that he is in. He also does a stirring rendition of the classic "Let`s get it on" I can hardly wait to see what the DVD has to offer.

2012-04-27 00:16:12

"High Fidelity"

This has to be simply the most refreshing movie I've seen in all of 1999! I instantly fell in love with this movie to the point where I read the book to find any missing scenes from the movie. "High Fidelity" gives the female audience such insight to the male mind there should be some sort of analytical study on this movie to observe the relationships between men, women, and music. I also have been told that one of the characters, Barry, from what I've been told is the perfect male representation of me in this movie. Of course I did not know of the uncanny resembelence until it was pointed out to me. Overall I wish that the movie got more attention because it really is a smart movie, but you have to first take away some of the layers in order to find critically defining parts in the movie to understand them. I do have to say that the ending was the only part that I think needed further work on. The way that American audience want movie to end is to have this closure to them, but in the case of this movie, there really is no need for such closure. There could have been other ways to end it, but since I didn't write the movie or direct it I can't tell you my ending of it.

2012-04-25 04:13:46

One of John Cusack's best/great intro to Jack Black

This quirky relationship comedy has John Cusack as the burned-out gender wars veteran owner of a store called "Championship Vinyl" where he and two other music nerds vend classic rock only to the worthy, while Cusack's character (who's just had one of his top five painful breakups with a hot girlfriend - played by a beautiful ingenue named Iben something Danish) resolves to find out EXACTLY what he's been doing wrong all this time... why exactly was he thrown over by the girlfriends on the top five list...This comic quest features plenty of comic "top-five" lists from Cusack and his two colleagues at the store ("I hired these guys for three days a week, and they just started showing up every day") one of whom is played with seamy panache by Jack Black... even though it's worth watching just on the basis of its gags, High Fidelity also has "socially redeeming" features, in that its protagonist actually has to confront the shallow narcissism of his life and in evolving from his former self regains the girlfriend and becomes more than he was in many ways.If there was ever a dark comedy feel good movie, this is it. I unreservedly recommend it. Oh, yeah, and John lets his sister Joan play in this one, too.

Sandcooler 2012-04-24 18:34:46

Didn't work for me

The main weakness to this movie is that John Cusack's character isn'tvery likable, which makes his relationship troubles ratheruninteresting. He might find some luck, he might not, I don't reallycare. He's way too whiny to like, and the many occasions on which hetalks directly to the camera are downright cringe-inducing. Allisonmarried Kevin! I don't care dude. Leave me alone. Another thing thatbothers me here is the unstoppable avalanche of pop culture references.Pretty much every band the writers like is mentioned in this movie,which comes of as pompous in a "hey, check out the obscure stuff weknow" kind of way. They try their best at clever dialogue, but thenbail on that and figure they can just play some Beta Band music.Generally when a movie has a cult status I can at least see why exactlythat is, even if I don't like it. Here however, I'm just dumbfounded. Idon't even remember half of it even though I've just seen it. Anyway, Isat through it because there are some good performances here and there,but there's little else I enjoyed.

Kevin-94 2012-04-21 22:29:42

A sour, bleak film

Please forgive me for writing my review in list form. It seemed highlyappropriate, though perhaps a little unoriginal. The reasons I didn't like `High Fidelity'. 1) Rob is: a) immature, b) alienated, c) depressed, d) self-destructive,e) passive and f) almost completely aimless. If you haven't seen the movie, I can tell you that none of these things areplayed up for comic purposes. He's just a pathetic man living out apathetic existence. 2) Rob isn't just the main character here, he's the whole movie. He spendsroughly half of the film alone, talking to the audience. I don't think I'dwant that much one-on-one from any character in any movie, let alone thischaracter (see # 1.) 3) The scenes he did have with other characters almost always fell into oneof three categories: a) Rob lies or is lied to. b) Rob is criticized, or criticizes, or feels hatred towardssomeone.c) Rob engages in meaningless small talk. What the film (and Rob's life) lacks is Rob engaging in any meaningful,positive interactions with other people. He's very alienated. This makesthe film very bleak and unpleasant. It make it harder to grab usemotionally, and care about Rob. 4) Rob's life (and this movie) lack any sense of urgency or trajectory. Rob is aimless, blowing through life, with few goals. The story drags. 5) I know that people like Rob exist, and that the filmakers did a good,uncompromising job of capturing him, warts and warts (I was going to say`warts and all' but I couldn't figure out what the `all' is.) Nevertheless,it's not enough to be realistic. I wanted to care, to get involved, and Inever did. The characters never generated any sympathy and the story neverdeveloped any momentum.

2012-04-21 04:47:34

The spin on generation X

There are some funny moments in this film and uniformly good acting anddirection. What's missing? Well, a plausible story to beginwith.Record store proprietor John Cusack's live-in girlfriend moves out,triggering a personal journey of discovery in which he tries to find outwhyhe hasn't wound up with any of the significant loves of his life. Herevisits as many old girlfriends as he can and talks about it, mostly totheaudience in monologues fired like a machine gun directly at thecamera.But here's the rub. Cusack plays a whinny, needy, totally dependent loser.At one point he says to the camera: "You're probably wondering how a guylike me gets all these girls."We are, and the answer is, he wouldn't. Most intelligent, self confidentand attractive women wouldn't have given him the time of day. But thismovie follows the current trend of playing to "me" generation fantasies,andone of the most popular is to take loser guys and show them gettingsomebodylike Catherine Zeta Jones into bed. The truth is, it's rich, powerful,successful guys like Michael Douglas who get Catherine Zeta Jones into bed.Guys who work in record stores get to help these girls sort through theresale bins, but it stops there.Cusack's store and staff are colorful, filled with generation X types whohave an encyclopedic known of record trivia, but probably couldn't havelocated Kosovo on a map if their lives had depended upon it. (I always knewending the draft was a mistake.)The whole movie, as a matter of fact, is an ode to a generation that basesthe measure of a person's intelligence on how well they can formulate topfive lists. Cusack's character admits he has been a professionalappreciater all his life. He himself can find nothing more creative to dothan refine the art of making compilation tapes.Cusack is a good actor, but he's becoming the sort of poster boy for theslacker generation. "Being John Malkovich" was about a similar guy whoseidea of creativity was looking at the world through someone else's eyes,butdoing it well, of course.In truth, the entire premise of this film -- the "personal journey ofdiscovery" concept --is one more piece of evidence that Hollywood continuesto lower the bar when it comes to film writing. No matter what kind ofresolution the story has,the problems here are largely inconsequential andso is the story. I got tired of watching a totally self indulgent guydoingabsolutely nothing but feed his own fantasies. It was like a two hourSeinfeld episode and I could never even sit through a half hourone.There has to be something better to make films about than this!

johanleupen 2012-04-21 00:11:20

Very nice work. Very gloomy, but a bit long.

Nice work. Interesting to see how endearing John's character becomes to us,even though he's not exactly the most charming person in the world. Thenarration-style has been done before a couple of times (rememberGoodfellas?) but it's still a nice touch. Good acting all round. Well notall round as i found Catherine Zeta Jones a little out of place, i didn'tcare much for her 'acting', she very pleasing to the eye but that's about itin my opinion. Some very funny scenes with the two store clerks, excellentcasting.

djkent 2012-04-20 02:57:57

A winning, enjoyable film that makes you laugh and think.

Prior to seeing this movie, I hadn't watched much of John Cusack's work. Inow plan to change that! First, let me say that I hadn't recently seen muchthat I've enjoyed...and I don't normally care for the crass, sophomoricdreck that passes for "relationship" movies, these days. Not so, with "HighFidelity." This is a work that emanates brilliance! The script is clever,literate and howlingly funny. John Cusack turns in a resounding performanceas a modern everyman, seeking to understand why his relationships sink morethunderingly than the Titanic. Cusack's two side-kicks in the record shophis character runs, steal every scene they're in...and leave you holdingyour sides from laughing so much. Pivotal cameo roles by the like ofCatherine Zeta-Jones also add much to the enjoyment of this campy, yetwarm-hearted story. And for all the yucks and guffaws and howls (there'shumor abounding), this story does have a point; and there's not much more Ican say about that, without writing a spoiler, which I refuse to do. Simplyleave it, that any man under forty might re-think a bit about his ownreasons for having sunk a relationship or two. Here's two hours of greatentertainment and solid film-making. Put it on your "gotta see" list, rightnow!