High Fidelity

by Tim Wick

All right, I have to stop making jokes about the fact that no-one reads my reviews. The latest information our webmaster showed me on Friday suggests that about twenty people actually read them on a regular basis (since one of them is me so I can fret over all the typos I missed, we'll call it nineteen). So given that there is actually a small number of people that chose to make movie decisions based on this site, why am I reviewing a movie that was already reviewed by Mike Lee?

Because I think it is a good idea to read reviews from more than one source (if you are using reviews as a reason to make a decision). That way you can get an idea if the movie is right for you based on how often you agree with other reviewers. I regularly read reviews by Harry Knowles on Aint-it-cool-news.com, Roger Ebert, Chris Hewitt from the St. Paul Pioneer Press, and Entertainment Weekly. Most of them avoid spoilers and just cover the feel of the movie (the exception is Chris Hewitt, but he writes for my home town paper and I avoid his reviews until I see the film).

Given that, I think it is fine for the site to have more than one review on the same movie. I was kind of hoping I would hate High Fidelity so you would have opposing viewpoints on which to base your decision. If you have read Mike Lee's review, you know he liked the movie quite a bit.

So did I.

I'm having a tough time deciding if I liked this one or Erin Brockovich more. But that is my problem to sort out, so let's get on with the review.

Top five reasons I liked High Fidelity (you'll understand why I did my review this way when you see the film)

1. John Cusack. If Parker Posey is the queen of Indy films, John is the king. He is a kind of baby faced everyman that Matthew Broderick wants to me. Even though he is a movie star, you get the feeling he is the kind of sad sack that has all the problems you and I do and that makes him believable. A lesser actor would have had a lot of trouble with this part because he has pretty much 75% of the spoken lines in the film. Cusack really does a great job here.

2. The supporting cast. Again, with a tough script that gives most of the actors very little to work with, they all do a great job. Todd Louiso and Jack Black play employees at Cusack's record store who are delightfully dysfunctional. I don't know which one I liked more. Joan Cusack (who is constitutionally required to appear in all of her brothers films, it would seem) is fun as a friend of Cusack and the woman who just dumped him. Iben Hejele (try pronouncing that name) is perfectly cast as Laura, Cusacks ex. She is not a classic beauty and that makes it work. You don't expect Cusack to end up with Michelle Pfeiffer, that would not be right. Bruce Springsteen also has a great cameo.

3. The script. As tough as it is for the actors to work with, it is a strong script that requires a lot from it's actors (who deliver). The dialogue is tight and focused, and much of the film is narrated by Cusack. The narration is snappy and interesting, which can be a real challenge. Cusack co-wrote the screenplay and obviously had a hand in making the narration segments work.

4. Chicago. The film is set there and my mothers family is from there. I can't say why, but it was the perfect city for this story. The huge Chicago skyline contrast the little story of a young man who is trying to figure out where he is going to go in life really worked for me. More so than if it had been in New York or London (where the original book was set) or LA.

5. It made me laugh. That's really the measure of a good comedy, isn't it? I didn't give a good review to What Planet are you From because it didn't make me laugh. This film did. Not belly laughs that make you almost choke, but good consistent chuckles. Everything else played into this one point. There was more to the movie than being a simple comedy, but if the comedy doesn't work, the rest doesn't matter.

We really need half beakers. This is a four and a half beaker film. I know it'll only say four up above, but I'm calling it four and a half anyway. Nyahh.

High Fidelity

Four out of Five Beakers