The most accurate portrayal of 'geekness' that I've seen...

Rating: 10/10 (17 April 2000)

...and I don't mean 'geekness' in a bad light, but rather the borderline obsessive nature that all of us has about something, whether it be film, or music, or ten year old, mint-in-the-box action figures. It becomes our secondary vocabulary, our means of assessing others. (As Cusack's character Rob Gordon says - "It's about what YOU like, not about what you ARE like..."
And yes, the bad stuff is there too. The elitist nature of the knowledgeable versus the neophytes, and the, at times, VERY compulsive nature of the hobby, to the point where it begins to overshadow everything else.
John Cusack nails the part of walking the line between being a bitter schmuck and someone you still feel worthy of rooting for. Jack Black's character reminds me so much of many of my friends, quick to judge, elitist, and grating at times, but someone you still feel compelled to keep around.
And the character of Rob Gordon, scarily enough, is the closest thing I've seen to myself in film. And yet there's still hope for him at the end. For this alone, the movie deserves an 7. But every other element, the pacing, the look and feel, the consistent breaking of the fourth wall, is so polished that the rating easily, easily goes to a '10'.