Reviewed by: Halyna Barannik
CONTRIBUTOR
Moral Rating: | Very Offensive |
Moviemaking Quality: |
|
Primary Audience: | Adults |
Genre: | Romance Comedy |
Length: | 1 hr. 47 min. |
Year of Release: | 2000 |
USA Release: |
Featuring | John Cusack, Joan Cusack, Sara Gilbert, Jack Black, Iben Hjejle |
Director |
Stephen Frears Seamus McGarvey |
Producer |
Tim Bevan Rudd Simmons |
Distributor |
Touchstone Pictures, a division of Walt Disney Studios |
“High Fidelity” is a guy movie (as opposed to a chick flick). It’s love and romance from a man’s point of view.
Rob Gordon (John Cusack) is the owner of a retro record shop that is barely getting by, mostly because he and his two employees couldn’t care less. They are so high into their esoteric knowledge of rock that their work hours are spent listening to the music, rating the top five records, and looking down on anybody who doesn’t appreciate their funky taste.
The center of the show is Gordon, who goes to pieces when his girlfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle) walks out on him. She wants a commitment, something more than living with a guy who doesn’t seem to want to grow up. Gordon then proceeds to analyze his top five breakups and tells the audience what happened. He even looks his former girlfriends up to find out why they left him.
Cusack plays Rob Gordon as a pitiful loser, the overgrown adolescent who doesn’t know how to take a relationship seriously. However, somehow he figures out he really cares about Laura, and tries to find a way to get her back, like stalking her new boyfriend. He also realizes he doesn’t want to go on living the life of a nobody who doesn’t care about anybody.
The movie delves into the male perspective on relationships. Crude language abounds. It’s a guy movie, as I’ve already said. There is no violence, it’s not mean-spirited. There are some humorous scenes. But all the male figures are sort of losers.
Gordon keeps narrating his reflections and opinions, and little by little he seems to grow up a bit. If you like loud rock, if you can stand the language, if you realize that this is a guy talking, for whom relationships mean sex and living together, and hopefully commitment that won’t be too painful or horrible, then this movie will amuse you. The R rating is for the terrible language and some sex scenes. It should also cover the cynical, shallow approach to life that these characters exemplify, especially Gordon’s employees. For mature adults only. You probably will not want to see another John Cusack film for awhile, after spending more than an hour inside this guy’s head.