Rating of
3/4
"High Fidelity" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 12/19/11
An under achieving record store owner decides to contact a list of old girlfriends when he is dumped yet again to find out why he is doomed to be alone. Being EXACTLY the kind of anally retentive taste Nazi you see working in Championship Vinyl, I feel I have to point out that American remakes of British stories are almost without exception, a TERRIBLE idea. But somehow, the relocation of Nick Hornby's celebrated novel to Chicago actually works quite well. It's partly because the characters are so well observed that it transcends any cultural differences there might be and of course, a screwed up relationship is a screwed up relationship wherever you happen to be on the globe. It also helps that John Cusack was pretty much born to play the role of Rob and his exasperated rants and hilarious music snobbery will be familiar to any male of a particular demographic as will his sidekicks, played to perfection by Jack Black and Todd Louiso. Inevitably, as the story is written by a man there is a lot less insight into the female characters and the plot in general is little more than the usual rom-com fodder with a Generation X spin so when the story concerns itself with his current relationship issues, it's a lot less interesting...but that just may be the Rob Gordon in me talking. The very funny observational comedy works a treat even if the plot isn't quite there, but it's good fun spotting all the people you recognise from your own life in it!
