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Plot Summary
From the guys who brought you Grosse Pointe Blank comes the absolutely hilarious High Fidelity. John Cusack (Being John Malkovich) stars as Rob Gordon, the owner of a semi-failing record store located on one of the back streets of Chicago. He sells music the old-fashioned way -- on vinyl, with two wacky clerks, the hysterically funny rock snob Barry (Jack Black) and the more quietly opinionated underachiever Dick (Todd Louiso). But Rob's business isn't the only thing in his life that's floundering -- his needle skips the love groove when his longtime girlfriend Laura (newcomer Iben Hjejle) walks out on him. And this forces him to examine his past failed attempts at romance the only way he knows how! For a rocking fun time, give High Fidelity a spin. It's sure to make your all-time top five list for comedies -- with a bullet.
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Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews
TOMATOMETER
91%- Reviews Counted: 163
- Fresh: 149
- Rotten: 14
- Average Rating: 7.7/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Fresh: You're still smiling when the film is over.
Fresh: Cusack is a master at playing smart, frazzled, self-flagellating hipsters, and the movie, propelled by his arias of angst, lets him strut his best stuff.
Fresh: It's hard to remember the last time guys were nailed so perceptively and dragged into adulthood so warmly and entertainingly.
Fresh: Mr. Frears has managed for the most part to retain the velocity of the narrative without sacrificing the psychological coherence of the characters.
Customer Reviews
Top Five
This is up there with 'Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind', 'Almost Famous', and 'The Royal Tenenbaums' on the list of films that make me glad to be alive. It's a movie that is great for music-lovers, but I doubt there's one person out there who doesn't connect with this movie on several levels. All of the acting is top-notch, and the dream sequences involving Ian are quite amazing. The whole film is quite amazing. I'm not sure how much more I can say about the movie, except that it really works and it's found a special place in my heart. It's warm, it's hilarious, and it's real. Check it out!
Great writing, great acting... and an awesome soundtrack
It's always a nice surprise when iTunes adds a favorite movie to the growing collection in the Store. High Fidelity is one of those movies that is pulled off exceptionally. The actors do a splendid job making their characters seem real; each relationship in the movie is thus intriguing and fun, and, because this movie is centered around emotions and relationships, the story is amusing and interesting as well. The style of the film is very upbeat and witty, filled with plenty of "Top 10" style lists (mostly having to do with music). John Cusack's character narrates amid flashbacks and daydreams (where he imagines various ways to react to a situation) while trying to figure out why his most recent romance failed. In the process, he reconnects with several of his past lovers, all of them unique and diverting. Music, of course, plays a big role in the film, both in mood and in plot (Cusack is a record store owner, he and his friends talk music all the time, etc etc), and the soundtrack is spectacular, capturing the overall spirit of the story extremely well. All in all, a very fun, funny, and smart movie that examines the psyche of men in love. Very well performed and very entertaining.
Yes, it DOES translate from the novel!
Amazingly, the film does transition well from London (as it was situated in the Nick Hornsby novel) to Chicago, which is a tribute to the care taken by the filmmakers, and really to John Cusack who shepherded this project personally. Does Jack Black steal every scene that he's a part of? Oh yeah. Count on it. I doubt Cusack would have had it any other way. Interestingly, despite the change to Chicago, the film is highly faithful to the novel. Even some of the deleted sequences are directly taken from its pages. If Hornsby could have stayed this interesting as a writer... well don't think about that. High Fidelity is a film that, owing to its smartness and its obvious love of the music culture that it is steeped in, stands up to repeated viewings.
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