High Fidelity
Good for Cousack fans, okay for book lovers.
By Erin

: : : Our Rating : : :

This movie is based on the 1991 novel by Nick Hornby. It's the story of Rob Gordon (John Cusack), a man with an obsession for vinal and his own record store 'Championship Vinal'. After being dumped by his girlfriend, he starts to ponder on whether it is fate that he will always be rejected by women. He takes the viewer on a journey of his top five all time worst break-ups, introducing us to his seemingly tragic love life. There are a few surprise cameos from people such as Catherine Zeta Jones (who starred, most recently, in 'Entrapment') and Lili Taylor (The Haunting, The X-Files), playing two of Rob's ex's.

The book was originally based in Britain, and it seemed impossible that they would be able to cross it over and turn it into a US hit, however the film manages to sucessfully find US equivalents to Hornby's UK novel. Horby's freewheeling style in the book would have been impossible to carry off on screen if it hadn't been for Cusack's instant likeability which acts as a conduit from their world to his world and slowly you start to understand what he is jibbering on about.

A couple of things I didn't like, was the fact that because it has crossed from Britain to the US, the whole "the singer is American - wow!" factor was lost because they were all American. But you wouldn't notice that unless you had read the book.

The fact that a lot of people would only go and see the film because they have read the book is the main criticism. Having read the book myself, I find it a little hard to know what it would be like taking it at face value. But I still picked up on a vibe that made me wonder if those who hadn't read the book first would understand it.

The converstation peices to the camera could have annoying, however Cusack manages to form them in such a way that you feel that you are walking around with him. There is a lot of humour and emotion portrayed onto the screen in a very matter-of-fact way, that may, to some people, come across as strange acting, although after a while you get used to that. By the end of the movie, eveything makes sense, and although the US transistion could have made a cheesy all happy song and dance of an ending, the movie stays true to the book and you are left with a good feeling.

Frears direction helped to keep the small town feeling to the movie. The screenplay adaptation captured the novel perfectly, portraying on screen almost exactly the image created in the book.

Having never seen a Cusack movie before, I was interested in seeing how he fitted into the role of Rob Gordon, and was pleasently surprised.