A Guy Romantic Comedy that Rocks

Rating: 9/10 (2 April 2000)

This film that lives up to Nick Hornby's brilliant, hilarious, inspired book. Although squeezing the book down to a couple of hours left a few things not quite fleshed out.
This is a guy movie about relationships, a romantic comedy with substance. Rob (John Cusak) relates to his record store employees, and the world, through his snobby opinions about rock n roll and much else. In the record store, they're always making up top 5 lists about everything. He has that most common of guy addictions: he's an opinion-aholic: he's right and everyone else is wrong. Which doesn't endear him to his live-in girlfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle) though she appreciates his other qualities.

She moves out, moves in with another guy, and Rob freaks, becomes the ex-boyfriend from heck. It takes him a while to figure out that opinions aren't everything, and that it is possible to love someone who has what he thinks is a lame CD collection, and that they get along better without that opinion stuff in the way. As a guy, formerly much more opinionated myself, I can relate.
Cusack brings the novels interior monologues to the screen by directly addressing the camera, as in "Ferris Buehler's Day Off." In lesser hands this would seem too contrived, but he manages to make it believable, even natural.
John's sister Joan has a nice supporting role, not too many minutes of screen time, but well done. Iben Hjejle, the Danish actress, doesn't quite sound like a Chicagoan (though I wouln't have guessed she was Danish), but does a good job in a role that's not nearly as flashy as John Cusack's. Lots of cameos: Tim Robbins as the new boyfriend is the funniest.
While I was a little disappointed that the film changes the location from London to Chicago, but hey, I live in Chicago, and they did a nice job of revealing the city, not using the stock shots, shooting in neighborhoods that tourists seldom visit, full of realistic touches in the script that someone who grew up in the Windy City like John Cusack (who also co-wrote) would know.
So, definitely catch this flick. Read the book first, or afterwards, and see what you think.
"High Fidelity" is on my top 5 list for the year.