Music, Comedy, Jack Black, John Cusack. All good

Rating: 9/10 (9 July 2004)

SPOILERS
One of the few writers who has been able to describe the male emotion of the last ten years is the legendary Nick Hornby. In his book "Fever Pitch", Hornby discussed his years as an Arsenal supporter and what football meant to him. In "High Fidelity" Hornby switched his attention to music and ex-girlfriends.
In the film version of "High Fidelity", we are introduced to Rob Gordon (John Cusack). Rob, owner of a record shop and an obsessive music fan, has just been dumped by his girlfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle) and is in a fit of depression. Spending time at the shop with his staff Dick and Barry (Todd Louiso and the glorious Jack Black), Rob attempts to win his girlfriend back and do something with his life, whilst simultaneously being able to listen to the music which he loves.
"High Fidelity" is a truly brilliant film. It's one of those films which people know and love. It's not an award winner, although Jack Black is superb as eccentric Barry, but that doesn't matter as this adaptation of Hornby's film is stunning.
John Cusack as Rob is excellent. A master of the art, Cusack is an actor which nobody hates. With a sense of normality, Cusack seems to make every character he plays likable and believable. Whilst he has recently attempted to expand his range (Max Rothman in "Max" for example), Cusack is generally stereotypical as this anti-hero slob who we all love and adore.
The thing which makes "High Fidelity" so wonderful is that it is ultimately an excellent adaptation of a beautiful book. Whilst DeVincentis' screenplay has relocated the story from London to Chicago, this relocation has been tolerable due to the simple fact that there are no aspects of the book requiring reference to location or historical buildings. If the original story had featured a scene where Rob had taken Laura to the Tower Of London whilst he explained how he felt, difficulties might have occurred. Ultimately though, this never happened and we can breath a sigh of relief.
Finally, perhaps one of the best aspects of "High Fidelity" is it's soundtrack. With a soundtrack ranging from Stiff Little Fingers to Stevie Wonder, "High Fidelity" has what is a beautiful collection of music. The personal favourite being when Rob claims he will sell so many copies of the Beta Band's album simply by playing part of their song "Dry The Rain". By knowing a wide variety of music, this film shows how close to it's subject matter it truly is.
All in all, "High Fidelity" is a joy to watch. Combining the feelings of the typical music lover and romantic alike, this film cannot be questioned. As Rob, John Cusack is spot on and does himself a great credit. The same can be true of Jack Black as Barry. All in all, to add a personal tone to this review, "High Fidelity" is one of my all time favourite films. To use the film's notion of Top 10s, "High Fidelity" is often suggested as being my all time number one film. If you haven't seen "High Fidelity", you don't know what your missing! Go now and rent this film.