Plenty to enjoy here

Rating: 7/10 (20 May 2001)

Welcome to the world of men. Please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times.
Based on Nick Hornby's best-selling, and rather charming book, this film remains extremely faithful to it, charting the disastrous love life of Rob Gordon, a typical bloke doing typical bloke things. You know, like cheating on his girlfriend, spending the majority of his time with his loser mates and compiling countless top 5 lists on every subject under the sun. The setting has been moved from London to Chicago, but as Nick Horny himself explained, this film is not concerned with geography. What it is concerned with is trying to justify why men act the way they do. And while it doesn't always succeed, it's an entertaining little ride along the way.
John Cusak is brilliant as Rob. Having read the book myself, I can't think of anyone else who could play this part better. It would have been all too easy to cast a better-looking, better-known actor in this role, but had that been the case, I probably wouldn't be writing such a favourable review about the film. Cusak is engaging, playing the part with humour and vitality. And while the character of Rob may not always be likeable, he is certainly always entertaining.
The supporting cast is nearly always strong, with some shameless scene-stealing from Jack Black as Barry, one of Rob's friends who works in the record shop with him. But while all Rob's former girlfriends play their parts well (Catherine Zeta Jones a particular standout as the pretentious Charlie), the actress playing his latest break-up, and the cause for most of his anguish, is slightly static and poorly judged. It didn't come as a surprise to me to find out this was her first film role.
But apart from this little glitch, High Fidelity is almost faultless. A good soundtrack, some extremely funny sequences (Barry playing light-hearted music while Rob seethes, having just broke up with his girlfriend) and excellent acting from almost everyone involved makes this an extremely enjoyable flick. Men will relate to it, and women will enjoy finding out what makes men act this way whenever Rob does something a bit stupid. This is the male equivalent of Bridget Jone's Diary, and it's probably just as funny.