Rob, a record store owner and compulsive list maker, recounts his top five breakups, including the one in progress.Rob, a record store owner and compulsive list maker, recounts his top five breakups, including the one in progress.Rob, a record store owner and compulsive list maker, recounts his top five breakups, including the one in progress.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 3 wins & 22 nominations total
Featured reviews
John Cusack is not acting - he REALLY IS Rob Fleming (Rob Gordon in the movie). If there are doubts about it, I just say that he made the soundtrack compilation and collaborated with the screenplay.
The supporting cast is also perfect. Jack Black and Todd Louiso couldn't be better. Tim Robbins, as the world-music-fan, is a nice surprise, and Joan Cusack is always funny.
It looks like everyone had a lot of fun making this movie, and the result is a nice and funny and full of emotions motion picture, to see again and again and again to remember how music and love can help each other.
The movie's main plot is Rob recounting his past breakups via his favorite organizing device, the Top 5 List. He purposely excludes his most recent girlfriend, Laura, from it. He is trying to deal with her leaving him for a strange, world music-listening, martial arts-doing freak named Ian (Tim Robbins). Then he decides to look up all his old girlfriends, and in the process finds out a lot about himself.
The best scenes, however, are those in the record store - Todd Louiso and especially the utterly hilarious Jack Black steal every scene they're in. They argue over music incessantly, and anyone who knows a good deal about music will be laughing hysterically during these scenes. Dick is a quiet music geek in the classic sense of the word, while Barry is a cruel, ridiculous elitist.
In the end, High Fidelity is a wonderful, terribly funny movie with a lot of great stuff in it. See it.
Top five things that are great about this movie: Five, Tim Robbins' hair. Four, Jack Black. Three, Stiff Little Fingers. Two, John Cusack giving the best performance of his career, or at least since "Say Anything". One, the conversation about "Evil Dead II" and the word "yet". Honorable mention, Lisa Bonet not being completely annoying and almost actually likable.
Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars and wrote, "Watching High Fidelity, I had the feeling I could walk out of the theater and meet the same people on the street — and want to, which is an even higher compliment".
Personally, I think John Cusack's character is one of the most engaging in the comedy genre of the last decade. This is the kind of character I like: simple and complex at the same time, just like in real life. Somebody likable but annoying at times. Again, I feel a deep personal connection with him, and I understand him every time, even when he acts stupid.
But he is not alone. The rest of the cast is terrific.
Anyway, don't forget this is a comedy. You will laugh your ass off with some situations and dialogue. Hilarity comes from many different sources: you've got black humor, silly humor, complex (people would say "intelligent", but I despise the term) humor... Special mention goes to Tim Robbins paying a visit to the record store. Genius.
On a very personal level, I think there's a magnificent scene that sums up the heart and the brains of this movie. John Cusack talks to the camera (something that happens often) instructing the audience on how to make a perfect music compilation for your loved one. If you like that concept, the movie will grab you and won't let you go. If that idea doesn't sound seductive to you, you might just have a good time. If you are a rock music devotee, this flick is heaven.
RATING: 9.0
Did you know
- TriviaJohn Cusack and the screenwriters wrote the script with Jack Black in mind for the role of Barry. He nearly turned the role down, but reconsidered.
- Goofs"Janie Jones" by The Clash is listed as a "side one, track one." While it is indeed the first track on The Clash's British debut album, and the book was set in England, the film was moved to the USA, where the album started with "Clash City Rockers." But as record geeks, they would have been familiar with the British album as well, and could well have regarded it as the true debut album.
- Quotes
[first lines]
Rob Gordon: 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 punk music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to punk music?
- Crazy creditsCatherine Zeta Jones is only credited in the final cast list and not in main credits
- Alternate versionsBeverly D'Angelo appears as a woman attempting to sell her husband's vintage record collection to John Cusack's character. The scene was deleted but included with several others on the DVD release.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Siskel & Ebert: The Early Line: The Academy Awards (2000)
- SoundtracksYou're Gonna Miss Me
Written by Roky Erickson
Performed by 13th Floor Elevators (as The Thirteenth Floor Elevators)
Courtesy of Charly Licensing APS
By Arrangement with Celebrity Licensing Inc.
- How long is High Fidelity?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Alta fidelidad
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $30,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $27,287,137
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $6,429,107
- Apr 2, 2000
- Gross worldwide
- $47,126,295
- Runtime1 hour 53 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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