4/5 High Sex Skills
  by Michael Kerjman (The Earth)
A young strong unforgettable sex-partner has no problem in finding play-mate female but maintaining a steady relationship is out of possibility for a 26-year-old architect-turned-music-shop-owner keeping his options open.

5/5 Hi, do you have the song "I Just Called To Say I Love You?" It's for my daughter's birthday
  by C. CRADDOCK (Bakersfield)
John Cusack is handsome, but in a strange way. As a leading man, he remains an Everyman, or even an Underdog. In fact, the perfect role for him would have been Jughead Jones if they ever made a live-action version of Archie. But the next best role for John Cusack would have to be Rob Gordon, record store owner, the role he plays in High Fidelity. It is next to perfect for him.

A break up with his girl friend Laura causes him to re-evaluate his whole life, and since he is accustomed to making lists, of his top five favorite records, for instance, he makes a list of his top five break ups, and tries to track them all down and ask them each what went wrong.

He is semi-cool, but as he looks down on his customers, record geeks with a vinyl fetish, mostly young men - who spend all their time looking for deleted Smith singles and original, not re-released - underlined - Frank Zappa albums, he admits that, well, he is one of them.

Tearing down the fourth wall, he speaks directly to the camera, and lets you in on how men really think about women and life in general. He exposes all of his fears, insecurities, and vulnerabilities. Meanwhile, he is compiling lists of his top five break ups, his top five favorite songs, and his top five dream careers. It sounds like it would be dreary, like being stuck at a non-alcoholic cocktail party with insufferable bores talking endlessly about their stamp collections, but it is great, it is funny, and it is insightful; because I know this guy. I am this guy. I make his lists. I love this movie. High Fidelity is on my list of the top five films of all time.

If I was hired to work in his record store part time, I would show up every day, just like Dick (Todd Louiso) and Barry (Jack Black).

Though based on a book by Englishman Nick Hornby, the story was moved to Chicago, and all the cultural reference points were adjusted accordingly by screen writer D.V. DeVincentis. It is amazing how astute he is. He either venerates or abhors said cultural reference points, with laser-like accuracy.

Jack Black is an incredible comedian with precise comedic timing. In High Fidelity he is in top form, playing over the top, admittedly, but as long as the director (Stephen Frears) doesn't exceed the recommended dosage -- and he doesn't -- Black is perfect. Black is the new black. Todd Louiso as the shy Dick also scores highly in the humor department, but his is the understated humor of a Buster Keaton.

Iben Hjejle as Laura does a great job. Some other reviewers complained about her fake sounding American accent, but I didn't notice that, even after it was pointed out. I think she did a splendid job. She may be Danish, but she ain't no cheese danish. She was by turns funny, angry, sexy, supportive, despondent -- whatever the scene called for, she delivered.

John Cusack really carried the whole movie, but he was ably supported at every turn by the excellent cast. Lisa Bonet, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Lili Taylor, Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack, and Sara Gilbert, along with all the rest, really made High Fidelity an excellent example of cinematic art. Jokes, epiphanies, cultural reference points, and astute observations were thrown at Cusack and the ensemble, but they juggled all the flaming chainsaws with aplomb, imperturbable self-possession, and panache. High Fidelity can be watched again and again. Each time you watch you will discover new jokes, new juxtapositions, and new nuances to enjoy. I cannot recommend High Fidelity highly enough. If I could give it up to ten stars, I would give it eleven.

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Customer: Do you have Soul?
Rob: That all depends.
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THE TOP 5 JOHN CUSACK FILMS BESIDES HIGH FIDELITY

1. Being John Malkovich (1999) .... John Cusack was Craig Schwartz
2. Bob Roberts (1992) .... Tim Robbins was Bob Roberts, Jack Black was Roger Davis, and John Cusack was Cutting Edge Host
3. The Grifters (1990) .... John Cusack was Roy Dillon
4. Say Anything (1989) .... John Cusack was Lloyd Dobler, Joan Cusack was Constance Dobler, and Lili Taylor was Corey Flood
5. Sixteen Candles (1984) .... Joan Cusack was Geek Girl #1 and John Cusack was Bryce

THE TOP 5 FILMS OF OTHER HIGH FIDELITY CAST MEMBERS

1. Snakes on a Plane (Widescreen New Line Platinum Series) (2006) .... Todd Louiso was Dr. Steven Price
2. School of Rock (Widescreen Edition) (2003) .... Jack Black was Dewey Finn and Joan Cusack was Rosalie Mullins
3. The Cable Guy (Full Screen) (1996) .... Jack Black was Rick
4. Dogfight (1991) .... Lili Taylor was Rose
5. Angel Heart (1987) .... Lisa Bonet was Epiphany Proudfoot

THE TOP 5 CULTURAL REFERENCE POINTS IN HIGH FIDELITY

1. Barry: [Imitating Cosby] A Cosssssssby sweater. Did Laura let you leave the house like that? (The Cosby Show (1984-1992) [Lisa Bonet, who plays Marie De Salle, played Denise Huxtable on The Cosby Show]
2. Rob Gordon's girlfriend is named Laura, so they are Rob and Laura like Rob and Laura Petrie on the Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966)
3. When Rob is talking to Marie De Salle in the bar they find they both liked "The Prisoner" (1967) starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan
4. Barry and Dick say that "You Can't Always Get What You Want" must be disqualified from one of their Top 5 lists because it was used in "The Big Chill" (1983)
5. When Rob, Dick, and Barry are watching Marie de Salle sing Peter Frampton's "Baby, I Love Your Way" and they all admit that they used to hate the song, but enthralled by Marie's version, now they kinda like it

THE TOP 5 LINES IN HIGH FIDELITY

1. Barry's Customer: Hi, do you have the song "I Just Called To Say I Love You?" It's for my daughter's birthday.
2. Dick: Marie de Salle's playing. You remember I told you about her. I like her. She's kind of Sheryl Crow-ish crossed with a post-Partridge Family pre-L.A. Law Susan Dey kind of thing, but, you know, uh, black.
3. Barry: Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know it was classified information. I mean, I know we don't have any customers, but I thought that was a bad thing, not like, a business strategy [smacks Rob]
4. Rob Gordon: Hey, I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I'm certainly not the dumbest. I mean, I've read books like "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" and "Love in the Time of Cholera", and I think I've understood them. They're about girls, right? Just kidding. But I have to say my all-time favorite book is Johnny Cash's autobiography "Cash" by Johnny Cash.
5. Rob: No. I only have a few left, I've been saving them for later.

-----------------------------------
Vince: What's the name of your label?
Rob: Top Five Records.
============================================

THE TOP 5 SONGS FROM HIGH FIDELITY

1. "Let's Get It On"
Written by Marvin Gaye and Ed Townsend
Performed by Jack Black

2. "I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)"
Written by Stevie Wonder and Yvonne Wright
Performed by Stevie Wonder
Courtesy of Motown Records
Under License from Universal Music Enterprises

3. "My Little Red Book"
Written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David
Performed by Love
Courtesy of Elektra Entertainment Group
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

4. "Walking On Sunshine"
Written by Kimberley Rew
Performed by Katrina & The Waves (as Katrina and The Waves)
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under License from EMI-Capitol Music Special Markets

5. "Robbin's Nest"
Written by Illinois Jacquet and Sir Charles Thompson
Performed by Illinois Jacquet
Courtesy of Blue Note Records
Under License from EMI-Capitol Music Special Markets

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Rob: Songs at my funeral: "Many Rivers to Cross" by Jimmy Cliff, "Angel" by Aretha Franklin, and I've always had this fantasy that some beautiful, tearful woman would insist on "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me" by Gladys Knight. But who would that woman be?
==================================================


2/5 Settling for the safe route
  by Steve (Virginia)
Hi Fidelity is one of the many movies that comes highly recommended and fails to deliver. In keeping with the spirit of it, however, let me present The Top Five reasons that Hi Fidelity is an average movie:
1. John Cusack. He is an actor I'm not sold on by any means despite having seen many of his films. Herein he does his Woody Allen best to talk to the audience about his failed relationships. I don't know what it is about Cusack specifically, maybe it's his weasely look, maybe it's the lack of charisma that some actors have and that others don't, or maybe it's the fact that all the smoking, hunched over slacker posing, and Intro to Drama mannerisms he employs fail to convince me that he is capable of carrying a film, especially as an adult. For comparative purposes, Jack Black steals every scene he is in, as does Catherine Zeta-Jones.
2. The film fails to deliver on either the romantic or comedic level, the two genres it's targeted towards. Not ever funny enough (save the fantasy sequence with Robbins in the record store) or romantic enough, it left me wanting so much more.
3. The premise is clogged by errors that undermine it completely. More glaring; how is it that this man of Top Five lists, who obsesses about chronicling his life and the minutiae therein into portable containers of memory, not realize until years afterward that one of his five biggest break-ups was caused by him and thus not even a part of his list? It would be akin to maintaining a Top Five records list that features a t.v. show. That seems so incredible to me that I almost wondered why the film put it in. I assume it's to show that his hindsight has sharpened some and he can absorb the blame that he used to reflect onto others, but I'm not convinced.
4. Given number three, I'm not sold on his relationship and life epiphanies, and so, reason four. Zeta-Jones' character has it right when she rolls her eyes in exasperation at yet another "what is it all about?" person who can solve such a momentous question by focusing solely on failed relationships. It's the equivalent of trying to find a cure for cancer by focusing on male enhancement formulas. Furthermore, when he does make some realizations, he makes the wrong ones! Say what you want about her shallow character or Black's elitist music geek; they both stay honest to their core personality.
5. He chooses the wrong girl. He settles. He makes the choice that this woman, for whom he clearly has major problems, is the answer to his dreams simply because he is tired of looking. That's it. You can couch it in your own terms, but for me, his revelation to his on/off girlfriend that he has decided against pursuing the record reviewing woman who recently entered his life for her and their problematic relationship is a safe, scared, and uninspired moment of clarity. Call me bitter, a romantic idiot, a dreamer, a relationship elitist, or whatever you wish, but if you are really happy with the person you are with, if you really can't wait to see them each day, if the rest of the people in the world disappear when they enter the room, why would you ever find yourself considering someone else? That's not true love, that's settling for satisfactory. He should have moved forward and tried life with the other girl instead of moving backward. Maybe he grew up some and assumed some responsibility and ownership for his life. If that's the moral of the story, forgive me for not agreeing. If you believe that growing up and maturing means settling into the slow, passive crawl to death, go right ahead. Cusack's Rob character is thus a faux-rebel; a person who outwardly wants to be different and unique and fight the system that grinds romantic souls into complacent couples, but inwardly he longs to get off the train at Cul de Sac, USA where satisfied couples gather on Saturdays with the women drinking Merlot inside and talking about their new house additions or taking care of the kids and the guys in the back yard drinking light beer and comparing barbecue grills or titanium drivers. The moral of that story? Find any way you can to stuff material items into the emptiness in your heart and soul. Can you smell the banality? Me, I'm going after The One until I find her and I won't settle for less and I'll consequently avoid ever repeating those pathetic suburban nightmares that I once endured.
Hi Fidelity settles.


5/5 Brilliant! Cusack in one of his best roles!!!
  by Holly Patricks (Sioux City, IA USA)
Personally I think this is John Cusack at his best since "Say Anything". It is the ultimate break-up/relationship movie for men (and some women). It's very no-nonsense, comical & entertaining guide at how we love and sometimes lose the ones we care about the most. A++++++ Must view; however the book is even better.

3/5 I'll take the soundtrack instead
  by R. Kyle (USA)
Rob Gordon (John Cusack) didn't exactly become what he wanted. He owns a vintage vinyl record shop and works it with a pair of oddball salespeople who are possibly more disenfranchised than he. His top career choice would have been writer for Rolling Stone Magazine, but there were four others as well.

Now, his girlfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle) is moving out of their apartment. She was five on his Top Five list of most devastating breakups. Rob believes girls 1-4 somehow set him up for failure for this relationship. So, he contacts the ones who got away to find out why.

It took me a while to warm up to character, story, etc, but my husband got it. This may be the male equivalent of the chick flick. Guy flick? Fellow film? For some reason, none of them have the same ring. While I didn't quite get the film, I'd highly recommend the soundtrack. Great tunes!

Rebecca Kyle, December 2008