We still need the eggs

Rating: 8/10 (2 December 2000)

HIGH FIDELITY (2000) ***½
Stephen Frears' romantic comedy HIGH FIDELITY is one of the few movies you should see in this crappy year of 2000, full of disasters as HANGING UP and BATTLEFIELD: EARTH. I guess it will be my favorite comedy of the year and will probably figure out on my top 10. One interesting detail is that it doesn't have deep significances and don't blow your mind, but it is certainly one of the most honest films I've ever seen.
Woody Allen's superb ANNIE HALL (one of my personal favorites) served as a base for every romantic comedy that was made after it, leaving the sweet aura of the ingenuous (but delightful) films starring Marilyn Monroe, Katherine Hepburn, Doris Day, Cary Grant etc. to focus on more realistic situations (every genre was adapting to that, indeed). It is true that ludicrous and shameful situations were treated as realistic in the 80s' and 90s', but in 1989 WHEN HARRY MET SALLY... followed ANNIE HALL's steps and became critically acclaimed and a box-office hit. Now, more than a decade after WHEN HARRY MET SALLY... and 23 years after ANNIE HALL, HIGH FIDELITY is another perfect example that romantic comedies don't need to be sappy or sentimental. It is not a masterpiece as the 1977 Oscar winner and wasn't a hit as the 1989 best original screenplay nominee, but it has witty lines, great acting, some originality and much honesty, and it is very funny.
Based on the acclaimed book by English author Nick Hornby, HIGH FIDELITY is set in Chicago- and not in London, as in the book. The main character is Rob Gordon (John Cusack), an ordinary man who owns a decadent vinyl shop and has just been left by his girlfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle). He loves music, and sometimes confuses this passion with his love for women. He and his two weird employees are always making top 5 lists of everything related to music. But he decides to make his top 5 of the women who dumped him. While he suffers with his situation and his past memories, he gets involved with a singer and tries to bring Laura back to him- even though she is dating the nasty and weird Ian (Tim Robbins).
There is place for many hilarious scenes- my favorite one is when Ian is talking to Rob at his shop, and he imagines what to do with the rival- and many witty lines as well. The screenplay is clever and very well written and Stephen Frears shows once again that he can do everything- from DANGEROUS LIAISONS and THE GRIFTERS to this film. The cast is full of stars in small appearances- Tim Robbins, Lily Taylor, Joan Cusack and the gorgeous Catherine Zeta-Jones (in her best performance) are some of them. But the real star is John Cusack, who deserves an Oscar nominee for his role. He was incredible in THE GRIFTERS and BEING JOHN MALKOVICH and has his second best performance here (the best was in BULLETS OVER BROADWAY). But you have to like him and his character to truly enjoy the film, especially because Rob literally talks to the camera. To make everything better, the soundtrack is great: delightful, nostalgic and feel good.
HIGH FIDELITY is a movie about relationships and (as I said) even if it doesn't have deep significances, it is worthy of discussion. With a realistic view of modern relationships between men and women, all the characters have their importance. Rob is the perfect portrait of the Gen-X guy, with his ideas, beliefs and lots of trouble. Even if the movie doesn't know when to quit in the last 20 minutes, I highly recommend it. It's not very common to watch a romantic comedy that is honest, original, hilarious, ironic, bittersweet, delightful... and romantic at the same time. And it is also something we can relate to (many times I feel like Rob).
As Alvyn Singer says in ANNIE HALL, after he tells a joke about a man whose brother thinks he is a chicken: "Well, I guess that's pretty much how I feel about relationships. You know, they're totally irrational and crazy and absurd, but I guess we keep going through it because most of us need the eggs." Yes! We need the eggs!