Especially musical taste. He views his ex-girlfriends only as lessons about himself, often with amusing consequences. Cusack is the only actor who could play a man stuck in adolescence so sympathetically, charming the audience even as he reveals more and more of his self-absorption. Fans of Hornby's novel may be disappointed that the locale has been shifted to Chicago from London, although the film's dialogue and feel manage to evoke the book, with its pop-culture savvy and direct line to the male psyche. Chicago's musical history does make it an appropriate setting, and certainly easier to swallow than New York or Los Angeles.
Musical taste is the religion, the barometer.
Rob can tell that teenage hoodlums who raid his store are stealing for someone else because of the records they turn over when caught. Perhaps love can conquer all. Copyright 1997-2001 insideout.co.uk. All rights reserved.