Smart and Funny

Rating: 9/10 (2 December 2006)

High Fidelity is smart and funny. I liked the book but the film is even better. Rob Gordon (John Cusack)is the owner of a struggling record store in Chicago. He's a thirty-something rock-snob who judges people according to the music they like. Rob is a man who refuses to put away childish things. He is someone many of us thought about becoming, before we decided it was simpler to just join the rat race.
When Rob's girlfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle) leaves he begins to re-examine his life. Laura is a lawyer who decides she wants a boyfriend with more than an encyclopedic knowledge of pop music and believes that Rob has failed to become an adult. Rob wants Laura back, but is happy with his dead-end career and his music obsession. He's also afraid of committing to one women. Rob tracks down former girlfriends to find out why his relationships with women have not worked out. He attributes it largely to being dumped in college by Charlie (Catherine Zeta-Jones).
John Cusack is perfect as Rob, but all the actors do a brilliant job. There is an exceptional performance from Jack Black, who has tended to ham it up in subsequent movies. The book's London locale is switched to Chicago and it works. This is a great movie.