TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: after a rather disappointing " mary railly " , stephen frears is now officially back in business with a comeback worthy of praise .
this is one of the best surprises of this season -- a sweet , small budget comedy with a big heart
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in fact it 's not even a comedy .
it 's a drama or even more precise -- a clever satire on human relationships and needs .
based on a 1995 critically acclaimed novel by british author nick hornby , ` ` high fidelity ' ' is a wry and likable story about a man 's quest for fulfillment and happiness .
rob gordon was a dj .
it seems that he could make everything spin -- except his own life .
now he owns championship vinyl , a little musical store , somewhere in new york .
when he suddenly gets dumped by his girlfriend , a gorgeous blond attorney , life suddenly looses every purpose .
decimated , humiliated and on the verge of a mental ( and emotional ) breakdown , he starts meditating over his life and the way it could have been -- about what 's right and what 's important .
he starts " categorizing " life , dividing it into " top 5 lists " .
and the most important is the " top 5 list " over the most painful breakups of his life , starting with 5th grade , when he found his young girlfriend with another boy .
though you might think that people change , grow more mature with age , it just does n't seem that way and all rob 's relationships were different versions of that first .
where did he go wrong ?
was it he that screwed up ?
or maybe life just stinks ?
while he is lost in his own self - pity , he must think of the " top 5 list " over his needs for the future , find the right elements and mix his life together .
with clever parallels to the cult of celebrity , music and with incredibly direct narration , it addresses the average audience member , in other words -- people like you and me .
although a lot of this honor should be addressed to the screenwriter
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_ _ and frears , the director , the acting is equally important as the written word .
and here john cusack should absolutely be mentioned .
he is simply superb .
it is as much his movie as it is frears ' .
the film would not be the same without him .
cusack -- whose character is sadder , wiser and 35 -- brings intelligence and warmth to post- mod irony .
most of his dialogue is delivered directly to the camera -- not an easy task -- but cusack pulls it off .
his interpretation feels so emotionally right , so incredibly realistic and precise
that frears ' message simply ca n't be ignored or overseen .
the other members of the cast do an equally remarkable job .
both
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_ and jack black are fabulous .
even catherine zeta jones appears in a role where she actually acts , not just looks beautiful .
however , the most unexpected pleasant surprises is provided by todd louiso who delivers a spectacular comic performance as rob 's co - worker and friend dick .
this is such an impressive achievement that it 's almost worth
a oscar - nomination .
he is simply a joy to behold .
otherwise , everyone are in their place , and at the right time -- all part of frears ' colorful blend .
pretty much like edward norton 's " keeping the faith " , this film does n't follow any formula or belong to any genre
-- it 's dramatic , tragic , sarcastic , comic and even cynical , but never bitter or angry .
it 's a little bit of everything , pretty much like life itself .
nothing seems unreal or staged .
it reflects reality as a mirror .
as you watch it , you go through the same emotional problems as the main character .
you feel and think and reflect .
this effect has become a rarity nowadays .
although it 's primarily about the perils of love , ` ` high fidelity ' ' is secondarily about pop music .
rob owns championship vinyl and his employees , timid dick ( todd louiso ) and overbearing barry ( jack black ) , are fellow music snobs .
music is the language in their lives , the measure by which they define themselves and mark the significant events of their lives .
and so does the movie .
it is as much a musical film as anything else , as rob 's journey is wonderfully portrayed through carefully inserted musical fragments .
in the end , you have gained something while watching it .
it 's not the film of the century or even of the year .
it 's not an special effects extravaganza .
it does n't require big explosions or digital creatures to succeed .
it 's a small movie about the big things .
and even though it does not contain heavy philosophy , you feel as if you have experienced something of significance , and you will experience that nice warm feeling for quite some time .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: first impressions : critically , a close - to - awful film , but money - wise , it has been doing ( and will continue to do ) great .
a sometimes - funny film that sags and lags and oftentimes gets boring .
an orginal plot that grows old real fast .
one of the only 90 minute films that i 've gotten bored through .
men in black has defied the odds .
when i first saw that the flick was 89 minutes long , i thought maybe that this was a poor attempt at an independence day type film that just ran out of gas .
however , i now realize that not only did men in black run out of gas , but the film in 90 minutes manages to show off a very original idea ( which summer audiences have embraced ) that becomes old about 25 minutes into the movie .
tommy lee jones and will smith play two " government " agents who are responsible for keeping order in alien society .
the ridiculous plot begins when an alien " bug " , played weirdly by vincent d'onofrio , who was so great in full metal jacket , lands on earth to retrieve a galaxy that 's somewhere on " orion 's belt .
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anyway , the basic plot revolves around jones and smith to stop this bug from getting the galaxy , or a higher power will blow up the earth .
the premise is ridulous , but that is not why i did n't like this film .
i love original plots .
this one had an original one .
but director barry sonnenfeld did something to this film that ruined its plot : he made the film drag and also put in unncessary elements in it that are found in romance films .
whenever i saw d'onofrio 's bug stomp and eat people in the film ,
it got terribly boring after a while .
while smith 's wise - cracks did fill in the gaps , it was n't enough .
and also , i can not believe the screenwriters elected to have a sub - plot where tommy lee jones missed his former lover because as an alien agent , they ca n't have contact with any humans really .
and here i see jones , at a satellite computer , watching his lover plant the garden ?
a sentimental moment in an alien movie ?
nice try , but i do n't think so .
it does n't work here .
it just makes the movie even more ridiculous and even more boring
: we do n't only have aliens to worry about , but now we have jones 's conscience .
i came into the movie not wanting to see jones 's conscience , but wanting to see a real action movie that had lots of aliens in it .
maybe it 's unfair that i partly judged this movie on what my expectations were .
nevertheless , even though some parts are indeed funny , the plot in this movie grew old and boring -- quick .

SOLUTION: N

PROBLEM: beware of movies with the director 's name in the title .
take " john carpenter 's ghosts of mars " ( please ) .
if the carpenter brand name was n't superglued to the title , this embarrassment would surely have bypassed theaters entirely and gone straight to its proper home on the usa network .
and i would have been spared a headache .
the latest from the director of " starman , " " halloween " and " escape from new york " is a lousy western all gussied up to look like a futuristic horror flick .
the production is set on mars in 2176 , where humanity looks for relief from the overpopulation strangling their home world .
six hundred and forty thousand people in a matriarchal society live and work at outposts all over the red planet , terra - forming to make it more hospitable for future generations .
a matriarchal society .
terra - forming . sounds pretty intriguing , eh ?
well , do n't get your hopes up .

SOLUTION:
N