John Cusack routinely breaks the fourth wall in his portrayal of a sad sack record store owner going through a flustering mid-life crisis. Eccentric and clever at times, he's also a bit of a selfish, standoffish prick and that duality, combined with a stern lack of motivation to do something with himself, has long wreaked havoc with his love life.
Very funny at moments and stretched thin at others, it's a wordy dissection of Generation X's slow, sad loss of touch with their adolescence and the lies we tell to ourselves and our loved ones. Though angled and multi-dimensional, Cusack's character never turns the corner into someone worth rooting for, so his chase after a nearly-lost girlfriend lacks teeth. Good for some bright laughs, it lacks much depth beyond the satisfying validation of identifying a few cherished LPs from your own collection in the background.
"But I have to say my all-time favorite book is Johnny Cash's autobiography "Cash" by Johnny Cash."
This is one of those where I wish I had seen it when it came out. I love the aesthetic and that it takes place in a record store, and the cast is pretty funny. Overall a fun flick, I just didn't enjoy the storytelling as much as I would've back in the day.
This is the kind of film I adore. A tale of human experience, in this case relationships. Real relationships, not fairytales. Told by a list-making, fourth-wall breaking, cynical, flawed, and relatable John Cusack. What is there not for me to love?
Okay, so I didn't give it 5 stars. I thought it was great, but not excellent. I enjoyed Rob's story and his character progression but nothing astounded me about the film. I definitely think it's one I'll revisit though, especially to look further into it as a study of relationships and what they mean to us as well as what they tell us about ourselves e.g. Laura really didn't seem that great (something different from the in-your-face MPDG) so what made him fight so hard for her?
John Cusack seemed like a great choice for the part and it was nice to see his sister Joan make an appearance, too.
It’s good, it’s funny, it’s clever. I love how this takes subtle jabs at the rockist mentality and pretentious gatekeeping that happens in some corners of music fandom. It’s a little predictable though, and like a lot of comedies from this time period it suffers from bland visuals.
7/10
It’s pretty wild watching this today just in the way that they let John Cusack’s Rob Gordon character be so unlikable and barely learn anything by the end. It’s actually refreshing in comparison.
Top 5 songs about death, go!
It's a very good film that is starting to show its age sadly.
Solid script, clever execution, good acting, nice ending.
7.5/10
“What came first, the music or the misery?” A brilliant satirical comedy, High Fidelity is full of laughs. After his latest girlfriend leaves him, record store owner Rob Gordon recounts his top 5 breakups and decides to look up them up in order to get closure. John Cusack, Jack Black, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Lisa Bonet lead the cast and give really good performances; especially Cusack, who does an incredible job at delivering the dry humor and at breaking the fourth wall. And the record store motif is used extremely well, allowing for a lot of interesting discussions about music. Additionally, the soundtrack is quite impressive and complements the tone of the material. Tremendously fun, High Fidelity is a smart and savvy film with some poignant commentary about relationships.
Love this movie. My first time ever seeing Jack Black. My favorite moment is at the end (upcoming possible spoiler) when he busts out singing and I am like WTF! This dude can sing. Never knew about Tenacious D, but now I do. Other things about the movie are great too. Sorry so vague. lol
What a perfect dramedy, I absolutely loved High Fidelity!
Basicaly this is a story about a man who doesn't know how to grow up. That man is Rob and Rob loves music and owns a record store. No problem with that. He works at what he truly loves but sometimes it seems like he did not even care. He is more obsessed with his list of the "Top 5 Breakups", including the one that just happened. He wants to know why every girl that he had been dating broke up with him.
This film is something original and I love the fact that we have the narration literally in the first person. Rob narrates everything to the camera and you really connect with him, trying to understand the crises which he is passing through at the moment.
Music is a very important aspect of this film. And every single aspect about music that the characters approach, their kind of life style and the importance that they give to music in their daily lives I can totally get, and that's also another thing that makes me connect with this film the most, basicaly because I compare it with my passion with cinema. So no need to say that the soundtrack is great and Bruce Springsteen cameo was super cool! But don't mind if you don't connect with the kind of music of the film because you will enjoy it anyway!
John Cusack is the man of the film, he really shines and this is his film! He perfectly portrays "the regular guy". He is not forced at all, everything he says or does sounds and feels very honest and real.
Jack Black for me it's always a funny guy and once again in this film he is able to provide you with some good laughs, so as Todd Louiso as Rob's more reserved and shy co-worker.
Even the minor roles are great, Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack and all Rob's ex-girlfriends were great characters.
Why everytime I see a film with John Cusack I feel that this super talented guy is always so underrated?! I would like to see him being more praised from time to time. I always feel like many people don't give him the appreciation that he deserves.
I think Stephen Frears did an amazing job directing this film.
Review by moonkodiBlockedParent2017-01-26T15:57:44Z
Haven't seen this since it came out and I was a lot younger. I liked it then. I remember thinking it was special. Like many, music was my life back then so this seemed fun. Now? The music doesn't exactly mean what it did and the movie itself is below average, yet coated in a hip and self absorbed veneer. Cusack's character seems more of an immature narcissist than a character that I used to think was cool. It's a little embarassing to remember how I felt about this movie. I must have been a young cultural fantasist, eating up the stereotypes and wanting a bit for myself.
As you can see this movie has disturbed my memories a little. Not what I expected.
I've known people like the Cusack character. Shallow people. They're sad and sick in reality and not fun. Weird how I see this movie in a totally different way now. Optimism and my own former pretentiousness has been replaced by experience and sourcing worth from the script.
I guess I'll feel the same about the movie Chasing Amy. I couldn't actually finish High Fidelity today. Personal baggage aside, l thought the immature relationship stuff was boring and I didn't want to stay for the songs.