High Fidelity

**_Romantic head games become tedious_** Released in 2000 and directed by Stephen Frears, "High Fidelity" is a romcom/dramedy starring John Cusack, as Rob, the owner of a Chicago record store, co-starring Jack Black and Todd Louiso as his two employees, Barry and Dick. When Rob's relationship with his live-in girlfriend, Laura (Iben Hjejle) falls apart, he reflects on the five worst break-ups of his dozen years of dating. His past girlfriends are played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, Joelle Carter, Lili Taylor and Natasha Gregson Wagner. Tim Robbins appears as Rob's rival for Laura's affections while Joan Cusack is on hand as Laura's sister. Lisa Bonet plays a rocker chick, a passing fancy for Rob. Sara Gilbert has a bit part. What's interesting about "High Fidelity" is that it features the five general prototypes of guys' dating life: (1.) the first crush & kiss, (2.) adolescent urgency & loss of virginity, (3.) the hot babe out of his league, (4.) the rebound best friend & soul mate, and (5.) his one true love (maybe). If you've ever made a compilation tape for a babe and worked at a record store you might appreciate this film. You'll particularly like it if you favor romantic head games, which I find irritating and is the main reason I have mixed feelings about the film (speaking as a one-woman type of guy). Because of this, I had a hard time staying with it, although there's enough good in the movie to make it somewhat worthwhile. It's witty and you can tell the creators put a lot of thought into it, but Rob's mopey reflections as he constantly speaks to the camera get tedious after a while. Don't get me wrong, John pulls off the challenging lead role and does so convincingly; I just found his perpetually-smoking character uninteresting. As far as the soundtrack goes, the 90's pop rock struck me as mostly bland. Thankfully, there are several amusing moments. For instance, the scene where someone confronts Rob at the record store in the second half is laugh-out-loud funny, but Rob's relationship with Laura is decidedly Uninteresting; and Laura's emotional instability and indecisiveness become increasingly annoying (anyone who would marry such a relationally fickle person would have to be insane). Actually, most of Rob's romantic relationships become annoying although, like I said, there are amusing bits. Then there's Barry who arrogantly thinks his opinion on music is law; I kept hoping he'd get his teeth knocked in. On a positive note, the mental manipulations of Rob's unstable romantic life are offset by Dick, who shows the way to go. "Empire Records" (1995) is the better movie simply because it doesn't go overboard with the dating/romance head games crap. The film runs 113 minutes and was shot in Chicago. GRADE: C

“Rob” (John Cusack) is a thirty-something who owns a record shop and is starting to feel a little mortality as he reviews five of the relationships that have peppered his life. That’s not including the two people who clutter his life on a daily basis. Those are the geeky “Dick” (Todd Louiso) and the brash “Barry” (Jack Black) who have been imposing themselves on “Rob” and his customers with their diverse varieties of musical snobberies for years. With this eclectic mix of personalities behind the counter and a dwindling interest in vinyl in front of it, this isn’t a business that’s exactly thriving! It’s his latest split from “Laura” (Iben Hjejle) that’s focusing his mind as he felt more certain she was the one! Mind you, he’s thought that about everyone since his first love as a child at school. Cusack mixes the story up engagingly here with some self-revealing pieces to camera interspersed with the retrospectives of his flailing attempts to attract and keep a woman. He’s got hapless down to a fine art, and his own life is quite aptly associated with the variety of tunes that emanate from his store, suiting his ever vacillating mood. Some of his predicaments are relatable and funny as his courting follows lines that will be familiar, I’m sure, to many of us and are sometimes cringingly close to the bone. I always find Jack Black to be too over-the-top and here he manages to carry that off to the point where his character is actually quite one effectively obnoxious, but that actually works quite well with the quieter Louiso’s “Dick” whose more considered choice of indie music resonated more favourably with me (and other Belle and Sebastian fans). It’s a well paced and written observation of a man facing a crisis of confidence that I think is Cusack’s most natural effort on screen to date.