Romantic Comedy Classics #7:

Top 5 Favorite Clips From High Fidelity

1) The movie begins with a fourth wall-breaking monologue from Rob Gordon (John Cusack) that speaks to an essential issue at the heart of rock music-worship, posing questions that could, come to think of it, be addressed to lovers of romantic comedy as well.  He (and co-screenwriters D.V. DeVicentus, Steve Pink and Scott Rosenberg) is channeling Nick Hornby, author of the source material novel, and you know within the first minute that they - guided by director Stephen Frears - are going to do this right:

 

2) For romantic comedy, the first decade of the 2000s was Revenge of the Guys, with such pics as Hitch, Wedding Crashers, and Apatow's 40 Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up trying to kick the chick out of chick flicks.  But High Fidelity was the real kick-off, in 2000, where the male point of view on relationships gets an honest expression, as does the peculiarly male obsession with what makes up the ultimate know-it-all's record collection: the "I am what I listen to" syndrome (and what does it mean that I bought the Beta Band EPs after seeing this movie?).

 

3) A penchant for wish-fulfillment fantasy is certainly not the sole province of the male imagination, but this movie has articulated its inner workings wonderfully well, as Rob faces his romantic rival (the uber-obnoxious Tim Robbins, brilliantly cast) in person for the first time, and male id unleashed high jinks ensue:

 

4) True to its school even at its most poignant moments, High Fidelity features a notable proposal scene, its brilliance lying in precisely how stupid-guy spot-on its seeming anti-romanticism is:

 

5) It's the movie that made Jack Black a star, and arguably still contains his best work.  This last clip loses a bit in translation, since it's predicated on having convinced you that Black's character (a lovable jerk with hipster-ad absurdum musical taste) is the last person in the world to deliver the performance he delivers here; we're expecting something closer to the Dead Kennedys, which will end in bloody eardrums and party buzzkill - and yet...

  

High Fidelity is distinguished in rom-commery by its unflinching against-the-grain-ness.  Never has a romantic comedy emphasized such resistance to the very ethos of its genre - its hero is dragged, kicking and screaming into what he perceives as the horror of commitment - and yet in part for that very reason, when the movie finally submits to the transformative power of love as a positive force, we believe that it's only right and inevitable. Women are the means by which we men come to know beauty, after all.  And where would pop music - or movies - be without them?

Comments

[Stage32online]

Billy, I think you're spot on with this blog post. Never understood why this film doesn't get more "play" when people list their favorite romantic comedies.

I recently decided to read the book and was fascinated at how well the screenplay captured the overall theme of the novel while adapting it for American sensibilities. Anyone who plans on, or perhaps one day figures to handle adapting an existing work into a screenplay should use this example as an exercise on how to do it right.

Thanks for posting!

Richard Botto
Stage 32
www.stage32.com

[mernitman]

Richard: It's true - I picked up the book again after screening this and was startled by how much material had come more or less directly out of it - yet there were other smart moves made that reflected a savvy knowledge of what would work better on film.

[Judith Duncan]

Hey Billy,

Thanks for reminding me about High Fidelity,reading the post makes me want to run out and rent the dvd again. Truly loved it when it came out,so funny and real and intelligent.I've always had a big crush on John Cusack. I haven't read the book,but feel I should now,as Richard said, it would be a good study in how an adaptation works. Embarrassed to admit I actually dated someone like the Tim Robbins character,
didn't last long thankfully,but I know how real that character is.
Cheers,
Judith

[mernitman]

Judith, I was kind of jazzed by how well it holds up. Glad your Robbins didn't last too long, and I'm with you on Cusack: he was always my go-to "what I had in mind" for my male leads.

[The confidence guru]

never seen this movie and I think I'll go get it soon, my wife will love it, i'm sure.

[mernitman]

Confidence Guru: Great, but a cautionary note - this film exposes aspects of the male psyche that some women may find disturbing! ;->

[usa comedienne]

Thanks for sharing these romantic comedy classics cause me and my wifey are planning to have a movie marathon this coming weekend.