Cosby Sweater Hate Crimes

Rating: Null/10 (13 October 2013)

Stephen Frears' "High Fidelity" stars John Cusack as Rob Gordon, a record store owner who struggles to sustain long term relationships. As he's obsessed with categorising and critiquing pop music, Rob decides to take another look at all his ex girlfriends, trawling through his past in an attempt to ascertain why his love life is such a wreck. Rob's problem? He's a self-absorbed jerk who's cocooned himself like the various records and albums kept immaculately preserved within his home and store. Rob's solution? Spread his wings, care about other people and fly out of his comfort zone!
The film's final act, in which our lovers put aside romantic illusions and help each other "become better people", is routine, but Frears' cast of lovable oddballs (Jack Black plays a funny shop assistant) is always amusing and the film's narrative structure is somewhat interesting.
Cusack has always broadcast a strange blend of edginess, self-absorption, fragility, toughness, viciousness and nerdy sensitivity. He'd follow this film up with "Max", an interesting flick in which he plays Adolf Hitler's buddy. Seriously.
8/10 – Worth two viewings.