| | | A comedy about fear of commitment, hating your job, falling in love and other pop favorites.
Features: DVD, Aspect Ratio 1.85:1, Dolby Digital (5.1), Spanish, Subtitled
Rob Gordon (John Cusack) is the owner of a semi-failing record store in Chicago where he sells music the old fashioned way--on vinyl. He's a music junkie who spends his days at his store, Championship Vinyl, with his two employees Dick (Todd Louiso) and Barry (Jack Black) creating their all-time favorite top-five lists of songs. Although they have an encyclopedic knowledge of pop music and are consumed with the music scene, it's of no help to Rob when his long-time girlfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle) walks out on him. This hilariously funny comedy examines Rob's failed attempts at romance and happiness, as he is dragged kicking and screaming into adulthood.
"Hits all the laugh bases!" Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Editor's Note
A male-perspective confessional about being an adult--but not acting like one--HIGH FIDELITY is the story of Rob Gordon (John Cusack), the thirtysomething owner of Championship Vinyl, a record store in the suburbs of Chicago. Rob is in the throes of a difficult breakup with his girlfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle), and he creates a list of the ex-girlfriends who qualify as his Top Five Worst Breakups, then tracks them down one by one. At work, Rob's relationship with the geeky guys who help run the store, Dick (Todd Louiso) and Barry (Jack Black), is hilarious and juvenile: The three espouse encyclopedic knowledge of records while making lists of everything from the Top Five Side 1s and Track 1s to the Top Five Songs About Death. Director Stephen Frears works from a script based on the 1996 Nick Hornby novel of the same title, adapted by D.V. DeVincentis, Steve Pink, Cusack, and Scott Rosenberg. Frears integrates Cusack's signature goofball antics and gives him a series of talk-to-the-camera, Ferris Bueller-style monologues that Cusack delivers with personal ingenuity.
Plot Summary
Nick Hornby's popular novel makes the shift from London to Chicago in this Hollywood adaptation from the writing team responsible for GROSSE POINT BLANK. John Cusack stars as Rob, a thirtysomething record store owner who searches for the answer to the seemingly impossible question: Does he listen to pop music because he feels miserable, or is the music the cause of his misery? As he humorously deals with his store's pathetic employees (Jack Black and Todd Louiso), he embarks on a mission to track down his Top Five Worst Breakups to discover where things went wrong between himself and his girlfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle). Given director Stephen Frears's sure hand and Cusack's strong lead performance, HIGH FIDELITY is a funny and compelling look at growing up and falling in love.
| Features | English Dolby 5.1 Audio | | Enhanced For 16X9 TV | | Theatrical Trailer | | Deleted Scenes | | Conversation With Writer/Producer John Cusack And Director Stephen Frears. |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Buena Vista Home Video |
| Release Date: 4/8/2003 |
| Running Time: 113 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2000 | | Catalog ID: 20349 | | UPC: 00717951009944 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English, French Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Memorable Quotes| "Do I listen to pop music because I'm miserable? Or am I miserable because I listen to pop music?"----Rob (John Cusack), in voice--over | | "We're no longer called Sonic Death Monkey. We're on the verge of becoming Kathleen Turner Overdrive, but just for tonight, we are Barry Jive and His Uptown Five."----Barry (Jack Black), introducing his band |
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| | Professional Reviews | Premiere
"...HIGH FIDELITY is a solid, entertaining, and often very funny piece of work..." 05/??/2000 p.22Variety
"...A trenchantly witty and acutely insightful script....[John Cusack gives a] fresh, fearless and ferociously funny lead performance..." 3/20-26/2000 p.26-33 Movieline's Hollywood Life
"...Fueled by high-octane writing and wickedly comic performances..." 09/01/2000 p.90 Total Film
"...Cool....Funny and insightful..." -- 4 out of 5 stars 08/01/2000 p.88 New York Times
"...[A] witty, exquisitely fine-tuned adaptation of Nick Hornby's 1995 novel....The movie is sparked by more than half a dozen incisive performances..." 03/31/2000 p.E15 Box Office
"...A ruthlessly truthful and deviously smart comedy....Black's hilariously vitriolic rock snob Barry is especially impressive -- a long overdue breakthrough role for a very deserving talent..." 05/01/2000 p.67 Los Angeles Times
"...HIGH FIDELITY is a sharp and satisfying romantic comedy about the difficulty of commitment....The film's music is expertly chosen..." 03/31/2000 p.F1 Rolling Stone
"...[A] superb adaptation....With wit and attention to record-geek trivia intact..." 11/27/2003 p.72 Chicago Sun-Times 9 of 10
In its unforced, whimsical, quirky, obsessive way, High Fidelity is a comedy about real people in real lives... movies this wry and likable hardly ever get made... 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. - Roger Ebert
James Berardinelli's ReelViews 7 of 10
The humor throughout High fidelity is wry and witty... Because of its quirky characters, smart dialogue, and...bursts of penetrating humor, High fidelity stands out as a "small" motion picture that deserves wide exposure. - James Berardinelli
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