The Patron Movie of Music Lovers

Rating: 10/10 (19 December 2005)

High Fidelity is a laugh out loud movie for music cognoscenti.
From the movie's snotty clerks (who are quite a bit like the clerks in the stores I frequent who though I give them a good chunk of my weekly pay check still look at me blankly or worse, are absolutely convinced I will not put rejects back in the right order, and sneer at my purchases until maybe twice a year do I earn some momentary approbation with an obscure selection) to John Cusack's "Rob" reordering his CD collection (gee I have mine in alpha order, well mostly, and still my husband complains he can't find anything. Maybe he'd prefer how this character chose to sort his CDs autobiographically, as in he'd find stuff from when we shared the same taste in music) to the loving explanation of what goes into making a compilation tape (has anyone else been as hurt as I when I spend hours doing a mix tape for a friend or relative and they either just don't get it or worse never listen?)--and here the girlfriend even gets what it means. Too bad Iben Hjejle isn't otherwise convincing in her role.
Critics have pointed out how unusual that this is a relationship movie from a guy's viewpoint and even more interesting that both characters do change. I of course adored Cusack before this (it was "Say Anything" that convinced me that guys are in fact part of the human species though he didn't co-write that as he did with this though he didn't co-write of that as he did with this adaptation of a Nick Hornby novel I haven't read yet as well as pick the music) and I adore him grown-up even more.
(originally written 4/19/2000)