(High Fidelity, 2000, Stephen Frears)
I've mentioned that I've been trying to watch some of the weirder movies on The List, and it's probably becoming readily apparent that my valiant efforts have been failing. High Fidelity is certainly not weird, but I recently read the book and I just couldn't wait through Audition and Eyes Without a Face before sitting down to watch the movie again. Also, every since I saw that High Fidelity was on the list I've known exactly how I wanted to write this post. So, in honor of Rob Gordon and without further ado, I present to you, in no particular order, the Top 5 Reasons Why I Love High Fidelity.
1. Jack Black. By no means am I a worshipper in the Church of Jack Black. I can occasionally appreciate Tenacious D, and School of Rock and Tropic Thunder are good entertainment, but I won't run out and see something just because Jack Black is in it. But, seriously, he is one of the best parts of High Fidelity. His dance to "Walking on Sunshine" is now what I immediately think of whenever I hear that song, which generally leads to an internal fit of giggles. And then there's his performance of "Let's Get it On" as the lead singer of Barry Jive and his Uptown Five that occurs at the end of the film, which is simultaneously humorous and heartwarming. Jack Black was clearly born to play Barry, and I'm just glad that he did.
2. The faithfulness to the book. I saw High Fidelity for the first time before reading the book and enjoyed it immensely. Then, this last summer, I finally decided that I should read something by Nick Hornby and settled on High Fidelity as my first choice. I can often be heard griping about how films based on books are rarely as good as their written counterparts, but High Fidelity is not one of those films. Some of the film's pithy dialogue it taken directly from the pages of Hornby's novel, and even though the book takes place in England, it's easy to hear John Cusack's voice reciting Rob Gordon's narration in my mind. Though they have their differences, the book and the film are clearly the same story told through different media, and that satisfies both the bookworm and the film lover who live inside my brain.
3. The pithy dialogue. I used the term "pithy dialogue" above, but it deserves repeating. Rob, Barry, and Dick (played by Cusack, Black, and Todd Louiso respectively) spend most of their time in Rob's record shop swapping snarky comments about each other's taste in music and mocking customers for knowing less than they do. When not in his shop, Rob shares his cynical but nonetheless insightful thoughts about relationships and revisits old girlfriends, all of whom also possess a scathing wit. Rob and his cronies are smug bastards, but they're smug bastards with good taste in music and a flair for sarcasm, which makes them extremely watchable.
4. The soundtrack. Look, it's a movie about a guy who owns a record shop. The soundtrack is really good. Just trust me on this one.
5. John Cusack. I adore John Cusack. I don't know why, there's no explanation for it, but I love him. I've always found him charming and kind of cute in an "aw, shucks" way. On top of that, I've always thought that there was kind of an inherent sadness in Cusack's dark eyes, which makes him a perfect choice to play miserable, self-deprecating Rob. Just like Jack Black was born to play Barry, I believe that John Cusack was born to play Rob Gordon. In fact, I almost believe that John Cusack actually is Rob Gordon, and that he has an autobiographically catalogued record collection in his very sparsely decorated apartment. Of course, I know that's not true, but I like to believe it because it makes High Fidelity all the better.
