An English Review

Rating: 8/10 (31 May 2000)

For those of you who are concerned that Nick Hornby's comic novel would lose out by being moved to the US, fear no more. This film is right at home in the suburbs of Chicago, and having said that it could equally have been set anywhere in the UK or US and it would have still held good. The only major thing that has been changed is the music, and enough effort has been put into updating the selections to make any differences immaterial. The central premise, or premises, of Championship Vinyl is an example of second hand record shops the world over, and the types of music obsessed occupants equally reflect those that staff them. John Cusack is superb as the lead Rob, but the support, and it is some support (Tim Robbins, Catherine Zeta-Jones and others), all give excellent comic performances. I'm sure that other comments have covered the rest of the film, but I just wanted to reassure you all that the book has been faithfully rendered onto the big screen, a lot better than Fever Pitch, that's for sure. Now there's a film that sucked hard.