Not a Comedy

Rating: Null/10 (2 June 2000)

The Main Thing by nicardo@bigfoot.com Review of High Fidelity
Do I watch movies because I'm miserable, or am I miserable because I watch movies?
At the beginning of High Fidelity, the main character poses the same question about his passion for music. `Do I listen to records because I'm miserable, or am I miserable because I listen to records?' he asks, but it's a rhetorical question. Since Rob Gordon (John Cusack) owns a vintage record store, he listens because he has to, it's what he does, it's part of him. He has no choice, really. Anyway, what he does is only the backdrop here. It's not really about his job. It's about a regular guy attempting to figure out if he wants to grow up and accept change and responsibility. Go see it if you want to see someone, who may be more screwed up than yourself trying to get a grip.
As far as we're concerned, what he should have asked was, `Do I get into relationships because I'm miserable, or am I miserable because I get into relationships?' That is actually what the rest of the story is about. His current live-in girlfriend is Laura (Iben Hjejle). She's gorgeous, smart and ambitious. Well, she just moved out, so he digs up memories of his personal top five break-ups of all time, and tries to figure out what the hell went wrong. That's right. Rather than focus just on his present relationship, he delves into the past and looks up these old girlfriends to find out where they are now in order to feel better about himself. Why do we care? Well, it's John Cusack. Isn't he good? And because Rob has a very big... record collection. He owns a record store. You'd go there, right? And because he's `hip.' How do we know? Well, he knows way more about records than you ever will. He loves records. He would like to have been a reporter for Rolling Stone magazine. He doesn't understand about love and commitment, but he listens to music.
When I saw it, I was distracted for a couple of hours, saw some decent acting here and there, but felt that if this movie were a song, they were singing at me, rather than to me. It's a situation where there was a good novel (by Nick Hornby) that had trouble being made into a good movie. Cusack is very talented. Even with all his romantic comedy film experience, I'm not sure that his helping to write the screenplay adaptation made it funnier. This is not really a comedy. That's okay, but I don't like to be mislead. There are a few funny scenes, only not enough of them. Like when Rob has a major confrontation with his rival for Laura's affections, Ian (Tim Robbins), he plays the scene several times in his head. We're not sure which scene is real until they end. That's the kind of quirky thing that works in a movie. The replay button in our mind that we wish we had in life. Since music groups, songs, albums, liner notes and lyrics are the most important things in their lives, Rob's two employees in the record shop (Jack Black and Todd Louiso) are either funny, cruel, pathetic, or all three, depending on the scene and your personal point of view. Lisa Bonet plays a local struggling night club singer and recording artist. It's a role that must have been more interesting when the story was set in London rather than Chicago. She's really just an object of Rob's lust.
Cusack spends a lot of time mulling things over and talking directly to the camera explaining to us his confusion. I can see where a book can be like that, but, I felt like he often held things up rather than moved them along. When exactly do we get caught up with the history lesson and get on with the story? So, what's the point? We just look at him suffer because she walked out and he doesn't know why. Well, it's obvious from the start. There are big questions every man has to face at some point in his life. Are you serious about your woman or what? Is she the one, or are you just spinning your wheels and using her? Who do you want, and what kind of person do you want to be? That's the main thing. E-mail and comments are welcome.