High Fidelity (2000)

Rob, a record store owner and compulsive list maker, recounts his top five breakups, including the one in progress.

Director:

Stephen Frears

Writers:

Nick Hornby (book), D.V. DeVincentis (screenplay)

Stars:

John Cusack, Iben Hjejle, Todd Louiso

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Cusack	...	Rob Gordon
Iben Hjejle	...	Laura
Todd Louiso	...	Dick
Jack Black	...	Barry Judd
Lisa Bonet	...	Marie De Salle
Catherine Zeta-Jones	...	Charlie Nicholson
Joan Cusack	...	Liz
Tim Robbins	...	Ian Raymond
Chris Rehmann	...	Vince
Ben Carr	...	Justin
Lili Taylor	...	Sarah Kendrew
Joelle Carter	...	Penny Hardwick
Natasha Gregson Wagner	...	Caroline Fortis
Shannon Stillo	...	Alison Jr. High
Drake Bell	...	Rob Jr. High

Storyline

Thirty-something Rob Gordon, a former club DJ, owns a not so lucrative used record store in Chicago. He not so much employs Barry and Dick, but rather keeps them around as they showed up at the store one day and never left. All three are vinyl and music snobs, but in different ways. Rob has a penchant for compiling top five lists. The latest of these lists is his top five break-ups, it spurred by the fact that his latest girlfriend, Laura, a lawyer, has just broken up with him. He believed that Laura would be the one who would last, partly as an expectation of where he would be at this stage in his life. Rob admits that there have been a few incidents in their relationship which in an of themselves could be grounds for her to want to break-up. To his satisfaction, Laura is not on this top five list. Rob feels a need not only to review the five relationships, which go back as far a middle school when he was twelve, and try to come to terms with why the woman, or girl as the case may be...

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Plot Keywords:

employer employee relationship | store | record store | vinyl | thirty something | 

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Taglines:

A comedy about fear of commitment, hating your job, falling in love and other pop favorites.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Music | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexuality

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Danish

Release Date:

31 March 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Haute fidélité

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$6,429,107 (USA) (31 March 2000)

Gross:

$27,277,055 (USA) (8 September 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Working Title Films, Dogstar Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Barry is talking about Stevie Wonder, he says, "Is it better to burn out than to fade away?" This is a line from the song "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" by Neil Young.

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Goofs

When Rob exits the funeral and walks out into the pouring rain, his suit is already wet when he walks out the door.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Rob: What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?

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Crazy Credits

Catherine Zeta Jones is only credited in the final cast list and not in main credits

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Connections

Referenced in Jersey Girl (2004)

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Soundtracks

Rock Steady
Written and Performed by Aretha Franklin
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

Laugh-out-loud funny!

You don't need to be a John Cusack fan to enjoy High Fidelity, nor do you need an overt appreciation of music, the film is a highly humorous, poignant and informative look at men, relationships and love.

Cusack is at his 'Grosse Point Blank' best here, investing in his character a realism that at times is so hilarious you will need to see the movie again to hear the lines you missed the first time because you were laughing too much. His emotionally strung-out breakdown is disturbing. Here is an actor that knows his craft and knows it well.

Watch out for the air-conditioning 'alternate outcome' scene. It still makes me laugh!

Cusack is by far a more talented performer than many on the scene and 'High Fidelity' is a testiment to this.