Bittersweet analysis of relationships strikes a chord.

Rating: 10/10 (10 October 2001)

Sorry about the lame musical pun in the summary (I swear it wasn't intended... !) but I truly found whilst watching High Fidelity that I connected strongly with the main character of Rob Gordon. People here have said that they were turned off the movie because Rob is shallow, selfish, melancholic and anal (A bit worrying, since I said I identified with him!) but in my opinion, it's one of the first movies to show men & women as they actually ARE; not some glossy idealised version of how we want them to be. Yes, Rob is all those things, but then so are men (humans, really) in general, and so am I on occasion!
(SPOILERS)
Not only do I identify with the main character, I recognise virtually all of the supporting characters as variants of someone I've met. There isn't a false note sounded in this film (that one WAS intended!) Particularly good is the scene where Laura asks Rob for sex after her father's funeral. It shows perfectly that sometimes we do things when they are not appropriate, and we can't explain them, but sometimes we just want them.
The team have done a brilliant job of adapting the novel by Nick Hornby. The film never seems too static that you get bored, but you always have the sense that it was drawn from a literary source. Changing the setting from London to Chicago alters nothing. People are people wherever on the earth you find them, geography doesn't matter. If it's a good enough argument for Nick Hornby, it's good enough for me!
Cusack is superb as always in the role of the 'protagonist'. Newcomer (at least to American cinema) Hjejle acquits herself well as the iconclastic Laura and Black & Louiso are also good as Rob's friends/colleagues. There are also many cameo's; of which Tim Robbins' in particular is hilarious!
As with "Grosse Pointe Blank", another Cusack labour of love, everything here seems put together perfectly. The cast work well, the direction is top-notch, and the soundtrack is low-key but fantastic. I urge anybody who has not yet seen this little gem of a film to check it out! Feel free to e-mail or PM me if you watched based partly on my advice and were disappointed. Everything about this film resonates for me, from the dialogue to the pathos of it all. I have no idea what that says about me, but it's high praise indeed for the film! One for the jilted generation.