Today I would like to introduce you to Rob Gordon. Rob loves music and loves to compile “Top Five” lists of favorite albums, first cuts, etc. At night, he’s a DJ in a local dance club. He owns and operates a record store in Chicago and is assisted by two quirky employees, Dick and Barry, who share his passion for music but don’t always see eye to eye on their tastes.
The store, called Championship Vinyl, is not very successful. Part of this is due to Barry (Jack Black), who is not at all hesitant to make fun of a customer’s taste in music or even to refuse to sell the record requested because he doesn’t like it. Dick (Todd Louiso) is more laid-back in demeanor, but also has a wealth of detailed information about music. He loves Belle & Sebastian, and Barry hates them. Rob (John Cusack) tolerates them even though they often drive off customers. He initially hired them for three days a week, but they just show up every day.
We first meet Rob just after he breaks up with his live-in girlfriend of two years, Laura (Iben Hjejle). He is despondent, and the film opens with this comment to the viewers: “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?”
Thus begins Rob’s sharing with us his “Top Five” list of his most memorable breakups. He initially refuses to put Laura on the list, though, as he tells us the story of each breakup, he acknowledges that she is at the top of the list. He begins with the story of Allison, his first kiss in middle school. That relationship lasted a total of six hours for he later found her kissing another boy. His second on the list was Penny Hardwick (Joelle Carter), his high school sweetheart. He ended up dumping her. He tells us that he learned something about his own insecurity. The third is Charlie Nicholson (Catherine Zeta-Jones), his most serious relationship. It was also a relationship where he felt very insecure and out of his league. She dumped him. Number four is Sarah Kendrew (Lili Taylor), whom he got involved with after his breakup with Charlie. She dumped him as well.
By this time, Rob realizes that Laura is on this “Top Five” list and is at the top. He admits he still has feelings for Laura and is upset when he learns from his friend Liz (Joan Cusack) that Laura is involved with a former neighbor of Rob’s, Ian Raymond (Tim Robbins). We follow Rob as he struggles with his feelings for Laura, his flirtations with a music critic, and a one-night stand with a musician. We witness a conversation he has in his head with Bruce Springsteen about moving on.
As the story progresses, we observe Rob’s and Laura’s struggles with their feelings for each other. But we also witness a blossoming romance for the store clerk Dick with a young customer Anaugh (Sara Gilbert), and a blossoming music career for the other store clerk Barry.
High Fidelity features many well-known actors. In addition to those already identified, it also includes Lisa Bonet as the musician and one-night stand. Given that it is set in a record store, the soundtrack is full of music. Over fifty songs appear in the film. The official soundtrack was released and earned a Grammy nomination, featuring a variety of musicians including The Kinks, Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, Elvis Costello, Stevie Wonder and Jack Black.
The film was based on a 1995 novel of the same name written by Nick Hornby. The story was initially set in London, but Cusack and his co-producers/writers D.V. DeVincentis and Steve Pink wrote the screenplay and moved the setting to Chicago. They reportedly did so because they were much more familiar with the Chicago settings. Cusack stated, “When I read the book I knew where everything was in Chicago. I knew where the American Rob went to school and dropped out, where he used to spin records. I knew two or three different record shops when I was growing up that had a Rob, a Dick, and a Barry in them.”
Cusack was initially hesitant to have Rob talking directly to the audience, but was convinced by director Stephen Frears to go with that approach. We find him turning and speaking directly to us when at a dinner table or even lying in bed. The technique draws us much closer to the character. And, it was John Cusack who got Bruce Springsteen to appear in the film. In the novel, there is a reference to Springsteen’s song “Bobby Jean” from Born in the U.S.A. The narrator talks about how he wishes he could handle his ex-girlfriend the way Springsteen does in his song. Cusack knew Springsteen and got him to agree to appear in the scene where he talks of moving on.
High Fidelity was well received by critics and at the box office. The critic for The New York Times wrote that Jon Cusack was “a master at projecting easygoing camaraderie, he navigates the transitions with such an astonishing naturalness and fluency that you’re almost unaware of them.” Jack Black’s performance was praised in a review in the Washington Post, describing him as a bundle of verbally ferocious energy. Frankly, whenever he’s in the scene, he shoplifts this movie from Cusack.” Rolling Stone’s critic wrote, “It hits all the laugh bases, from grins to guffaws.”
Roger Ebert’s review gave the film four of four stars and, in my opinion, describes the film perfectly: “In its unforced, whimsical, quirky, obsessive way, High Fidelity is a comedy about real people in real lives....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.”
The critics’ consensus at Rotten Tomatoes states, “The deft hand of director Stephen Frears and strong performances by the ensemble cast combine to tell an entertaining story with a rock-solid soundtrack.” Rotten Tomatoes ranks the film at #14 on their list of Top 25 Best Romantic Comedies.
John and Joan Cusack were brother and sister, and their dad, Dick Cusack, appears in the film as the minister at Laura’s dad’s funeral. Jack Black and Joan Cusack would appear together in another memorable music-focused film from 2003, School of Rock. As mentioned above, Lisa Bonet played the part of Marie, the musician that Rob got involved with. Her daughter, Zoe Kravitz, played Rob in the 2020 Hulu series High Fidelity. The storyline follows a similar line from the novel and movie, but switches the role of Rob to a female. It ran for only one season but is still available on Hulu.
Though the film had over fifty songs, the soundtrack consists of fifteen selections. To quote the review from the Allmusic site: “It’s a fine, complementary batch of tunes that not only enhances the film’s mood but is integrated to its theme, and, as High Fidelity’s Rob Gordon would agree, it’ll go down as one of the top five soundtracks released in 2000.”
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The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) rates High Fidelity at 7.4 of 10. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a Critics Score of 91% and an Audience Score of 90%. I could find no free streaming sites available, but a copy of the DVD is available at the Clark County Public Library. The library also has a copy of the novel on the shelf.
I’ll conclude with an observation about Rob from Roger Ebert: “Rob is the movie’s narrator, guiding us through his world, talking directly to the camera, soliloquizing on his plight—which is that he seems unable to connect permanently with a girl, maybe because his attention is elsewhere. But on what? He isn’t obsessed with his business, he isn’t as crazy about music as Dick and Barry, and he isn’t thinking about his next girl—he’s usually moping about the last one. He seems stuck in the role of rejected lover and never likes a girl quite as much when she’s with him as after she’s left.”
So, what will come of Rob? Give High Fidelity a watch and you’ll find out.
Information for this Reel Classic review was gathered from Internet Movie Database (IMDB), Rotten Tomatoes, Turner Classic Movies (TCM), and Wikipedia.
If you enjoy these classic movies, please join me on the second Tuesday of each month at 6 PM at the Clark County Public Library for “Ron Kibbey’s Comedy Classics,” where I present a classic comedy film, usually accompanied by a vintage cartoon. Popcorn and drinks are provided. More information about the next movie is available on the library’s website and Facebook page, as well as the WinCity Voices Facebook page.
