Following a breakup with his most recent girlfriend, Rob Gordon recounts his most painful breakups, seeking to find a reason for his failed romances. The film is styled around Rob talking to the camera and narrating his own story.
Rob Gordon is a music enthusiast with limited understanding of women. After being abruptly dumped by Laura, a lawyer and his live-in girlfriend of two years, he is left despondent.
By day, Rob manages Championship Vinyl, a record store where he and his employees, Dick and Barry, indulge in their encyclopedic musical knowledge. They compile "Top 5" lists for every imaginable occasion, mock their few customers' tastes, and rarely sell records; Laura's breakup cracks Rob's Top 5 list of the worst breakups he's ever had.
While serious, his relationship with Laura was rocky, as he often had to ask for money, and at one point he slept with another woman while she was pregnant without his knowledge, prompting her to abort the baby secretly while they reconciled. After she tells her friend Liz this, and his mother calls him out on his doomed relationships, Rob decides on a journey to understand his relationship failures by reconnecting with his other former partners on the Top 5 list.
Number 1 is Allison, a girl he kissed in middle school, only for her to kiss a different boy a few hours later. Rob discovers she went on to marry the other boy, convincing him they were meant to be together.
Number 2 is Penny Hardwick, his high school girlfriend who he dumped after she routinely refused to be intimate with him, only to sleep with another guy shortly afterward. He meets with the now movie critic over a movie and dinner, only to discover that the sexual encounter was a post-breakup fling; Penny tells him off, but Rob takes solace in knowing it was his own insecurity that caused the breakup.
Number 3 is a trendy girl named Charlie Nicholson and his most serious relationship. Rob felt insecure around her and eventually got dumped for someone in her league, which sent him into a deep depression. He learns that she has sworn off men in favor of a career; when they meet at a party, he realizes she is vain and elitist, allowing him to move on.
Finally, Rob meets with Number 4, Sarah Kendrew, whom he shared a post-breakup relationship with after Charlie, only for her to meet another man. Reuniting with her, he discovers that she is mentally unwell and thus routinely sabotages her relationships, so he drops the subject out of pity.
Teen skateboarders Vince and Justin, frequently cause trouble in the store until Rob discovers their music project, The Kinky Wizards. Impressed by their recording, he offers them a record deal under his newly founded label, Top 5 Records.
In his personal life, Rob continues to long for Laura, who is living with Ian, a man he initially does not recognize. However, after finding a letter addressed to "I. Raymond," Rob realizes he is their former upstairs lifestyle guru neighbor, nicknamed "Ray", known for keeping them awake with his frequent sexual encounters, which they used to jokingly discuss. This makes him extremely insecure, and he resorts to stalking until Ian confronts him.
Rob's relationship with Laura takes a pivotal turn when her father, who was fond of Rob, dies. Attending the funeral, Rob realizes he has never truly committed to Laura, neglecting both their relationship and his own future in the process. This self-awareness prompts the couple to move back in together.
Rob then meets a music columnist and develops a crush on her. While making a mixtape for her, he wonders whether he is simply jumping from one attraction to another. In a heartfelt conversation with Laura, Rob acknowledges that other women are mere fantasies, while Laura is his reality, someone he never tires of. He proposes to her, and although she thanks him for asking, she encourages him to revisit his passion for DJing.
At a celebration for the release of Vince and Justin's single, organized by Laura, Rob is pleasantly surprised by the performance of Barry's band. He also breathes a sigh of relief when Barry opts against naming the band "Sonic Death Monkey" or "Kathleen Turner Overdrive," choosing instead "Barry Jive and the Uptown Five." Finally, Rob creates a mixtape for Laura, confident that he has finally learned how to make her happy.
Nick Hornby's book was optioned by Disney's Touchstone Pictures in 1995, where it went into development for three years.[4]Mike Newell was slated to direct the film with a script written by Con Air screenwriter Scott Rosenberg.[5][6] Disney executive Joe Roth had a conversation with recording executive Kathy Nelson, who recommended John Cusack and his writing and producing partners D. V. DeVincentis and Steve Pink adapt the book. She had previously worked with them on Grosse Pointe Blank and felt that they had the right sensibilities for the material.[7] According to Cusack, DeVincentis is the closest to the record-obsessive characters in the film, owning 1,000 vinyl records and thousands of CDs and tapes.[8] They wrote a treatment that was immediately greenlit by Roth.[7]
Screenplay
The writers decided to change the book's setting from London to Chicago because they were more familiar with the city, and it also had a "great alternative music scene", according to Pink.[9] Cusack said, "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".[10] Charlotte Tudor, of the film's distributor, Buena Vista, said: "Chicago has the same feel as north London, there is a vibrant music scene, a lot of the action is set in smoky bars and, of course, there is the climate. But everyone, including Nick, felt that geography was not the central issue. It has a universal appeal".[11] Scenes were filmed in the neighborhood of Wicker Park,[12] and on the campus of Lane Tech High School.
Cusack found that the greatest challenge adapting the novel was pulling off Rob Gordon's frequent breaking of the fourth wall and talking directly to the audience.[4] The screenwriters did this to convey Rob's inner confessional thoughts, and were influenced by a similar technique in the Michael Caine film Alfie.[4] Cusack rejected this approach because he thought that "there'd just be too much of me."[4] Once Newell dropped out as director and remains on as executive producer and Stephen Frears signed on to replace him as director, he suggested using the technique and everyone agreed.[4]
Cusack and the writers floated the idea that Rob could have a conversation with Bruce Springsteen in his head, inspired by a reference in Hornby's book where the narrator wishes he could handle his past girlfriends as well as Springsteen does in his song "Bobby Jean" on Born in the U.S.A.[13] They never believed they would actually get the musician to appear in the film, but thought putting him in the script would make the studio excited about it.[4] Cusack knew Springsteen socially, and called the musician up and pitched the idea. Springsteen asked for a copy of the script and subsequently agreed to do it.[4]
Near the film's completion, it was revealed that Scott Rosenberg would share screenplay credit with Cusack, DeVincentis & Pink. Rosenberg's original draft took place in Boston and was drastically different from Hornby's book and the writing team's adaptation. The three reached out to Rosenberg who agreed to take his name off the credits. However, Rosenberg eventually refused to do so, leading to a writing credit dispute. According to Pink, Rosenberg was given credit due to a now-abolished rule in the WGA which gave full credit to the first screenwriter attached to any adaptation for "anything they extracted from the book, or from the material from which they were adapting."[14]
Casting
Frears was at the Berlin International Film Festival and seeing Mifune's Last Song, starring Iben Hjejle, realized that he had found the female lead. Frears read Hornby's book and enjoyed it, but did not connect with the material because it was not about his generation.[15] He accepted the job because he wanted to work with Cusack again (after teaming on The Grifters) and liked the idea of changing the setting from London to Chicago.[15] The director was also responsible for insisting on keeping Jack Black in the part of Barry.[15] Black never auditioned and had initially passed on the part until Frears convinced him to take the role.[16] Frears has said that many people from the studio came to watch his rushes.[17] The role of Dick was originally offered to David Arquette, and Artie Lange auditioned for Barry.[18][19]Todd Louiso was cast as Dick after Arquette passed on the offer.[20]Liz Phair was also considered for the character Marie DeSalle, before Lisa Bonet was cast.[21]
High Fidelity premiered at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood. The post-party was held at the Sunset Room, where Tenacious D performed.[25] The film was opened in a wide release in the United States on March 31, 2000, grossing $6.4 million during its opening weekend and finishing in fifth place at the US box office. It opened July 21, 2000 in the United Kingdom on 227 screens and grossed $1.1 million, finishing fourth for the weekend.[26] It went on to gross $47.1 million worldwide, of which $27.3 million was from the US and Canada.[2]
Reception
High Fidelity received positive reviews from critics at 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 165 reviews, with an average rating of 7.60/10. The critical consensus 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."[27] The film has a score of 79 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 35 critics.[28] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.[29]
Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four and wrote, "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."[30] In his review for the Washington Post, Desson Howe praised Jack Black as "a bundle of verbally ferocious energy. Frankly, whenever he's in the scene, he shoplifts this movie from Cusack."[31] In his review for The New York Times, Stephen Holden praised Cusack's performance, writing, "a master at projecting easygoing camaraderie, he navigates the transitions with such an astonishing naturalness and fluency that you're almost unaware of them."[32]USA Today did not give the film a positive review: "Let's be kind and just say High Fidelity doesn't quite belong beside Grosse Pointe Blank and The Sure Thing in Cusack's greatest hits collection. It's not that he isn't good. More like miscast."[33] In his review for Entertainment Weekly, Owen Gleiberman gave the film a "B−" rating and wrote, "In High Fidelity, Rob's music fixation is a signpost of his arrested adolescence; he needs to get past records to find true love. If the movie had had a richer romantic spirit, he might have embraced both in one swooning gesture."[34]
Peter Travers, in his review for Rolling Stone, wrote, "It hits all the laugh bases, from grins to guffaws. Cusack and his Chicago friends—D.V. DeVincentis and Steve Pink—have rewritten Scott Rosenberg's script to catch Hornby's spirit without losing the sick comic twists they gave 1997's Grosse Pointe Blank."[35] In his review for The Observer, Philip French wrote, "High Fidelity is an extraordinarily funny film, full of verbal and visual wit. And it is assembled with immense skill."[36] Stephanie Zacharek, in her review for Salon.com, praised Iben Hjejle's performance: "Hjejle's Laura is supremely likable: She's so matter-of-fact and grounded that it's perfectly clear why she'd become exasperated with a guy like Rob, who perpetually refuses to grow up, but you can also see how her patience and calm are exactly the things he needs."[37]
Legacy
Empire magazine readers voted High Fidelity the 446th greatest film in their "500 Greatest Movies of All Time" poll.[38] It is also ranked #14 on Rotten Tomatoes' 25 Best Romantic Comedies.[39] In its June 2010 issue, Chicago magazine rated it #1 in a list of the top 40 movies ever filmed in Chicago.[40]
Alternative singer-songwriter Regina Spektor was watching the movie when she wrote her 2006 song "Fidelity", which marked her first entry into the Billboard charts.[41] That same year a musical stage adaptation premiered on Broadway and ran for 13 performances.[42] In 2010, Tanya Morgan member Donwill released the solo album Don Cusack In High Fidelity, which he recorded from the perspective of the film's character.[43]
In April 2018, ABC Signature Studios announced that it was developing a television series adaptation of High Fidelity with Midnight Radio (Scott Rosenberg, Jeff Pinkner, Josh Appelbaum, and Andre Nemec). Rosenberg would return to script the series, which features a female lead in the Cusack role.[44] The series was adapted by Veronica West and Sarah Kucserka. In late September 2018, Zoë Kravitz, Lisa Bonet's daughter, was cast as the lead. The first season consists of ten episodes.[45]
Originally announced for Disney's then-upcoming streaming service Disney+, it was reported in April 2019 that the series had been shifted to Hulu. Disney+'s SVP of content Agnes Chu stated that the series had "evolved" in a direction that was better-suited for Hulu.[46]
On October 30, 2019, it was announced that the series would premiere on February 14, 2020.[47] In August 2020, the series was canceled, after one season.[48]
Related Research Articles
High Fidelity is a novel by British author Nick Hornby first published in 1995. It has sold over a million copies and was later adapted into a feature film in 2000, a Broadway musical in 2006 and a TV series in 2020. In 2003, the novel was listed on the BBC's survey The Big Read.
Nicholas Peter John Hornby is an English writer and lyricist. He is best known for his memoir Fever Pitch (1992) and novels High Fidelity and About a Boy, all of which were adapted into feature films. Hornby's work frequently touches upon music, sport, and the aimless and obsessive natures of his protagonists. His books have sold more than 5 million copies worldwide as of 2018. In a 2004 poll for the BBC, Hornby was named the 29th most influential person in British culture. He has received two Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay nominations for An Education (2009), and Brooklyn (2015).
Joan Mary Cusack is an American actress. She received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her roles in the comedy-drama Working Girl (1988) and the romantic comedy In & Out (1997). Her other starring roles include those in Toys (1992), Addams Family Values (1993), Nine Months (1995), Cradle Will Rock (1999), Where the Heart Is (2000), Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), School of Rock (2003), and Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008). She has also provided the voice of Jessie in the Toy Story franchise (1999–present), for which she won an Annie Award, and Abby Mallard in Chicken Little (2005).
John Paul Cusack is an American actor. He began acting in films during the 1980s, starring in coming-of-age dramedies such as Sixteen Candles (1984), Better Off Dead (1985), The Sure Thing (1985), Stand by Me (1986), and Say Anything... (1989). In the 1990s, he then started appearing in independent films and had leading men roles in Bullets Over Broadway (1994), Con Air (1997), Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), Anastasia (1997), The Thin Red Line (1998), Being John Malkovich (1999), High Fidelity (2000), America's Sweethearts (2001), Max (2002), and Runaway Jury (2003).
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Sir Stephen Arthur Frears is a British director and producer of film and television, often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply-drawn characters. He has received numerous accolades including three BAFTA Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award as well as nominations for two Academy Awards. In 2008, The Daily Telegraph named Frears among the 100 most influential people in British culture. In 2009, he received the Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He received a knighthood in 2023 for his contributions to the film and television industries.
Mifune is a 1999 romantic comedy film, starring Iben Hjejle and Anders W. Berthelsen. Directed by Søren Kragh-Jacobsen, it was the third film made according to the Dogme 95 group rules. The film was a great success in Denmark and an international blockbuster, ranked among the ten best-selling Danish films worldwide. It was produced by Nimbus Film.
Iben Hjejle is a Danish actress, notable for starring in the Stephen Frears film High Fidelity (2000). In Denmark, she is perhaps best known for appearing in the Danish television sitcom Langt fra Las Vegas and playing the girlfriend of Danish comedian Casper Christensen, her former real life partner. She also plays Christensen's girlfriend in the sitcom Klovn (Clown) and the title role in the TV crime series Dicte.
Natasha Gregson Wagner is an American actress. She is the daughter of film producer Richard Gregson and actress Natalie Wood. She has appeared in films including Lost Highway, Two Girls and a Guy,First Love, Last Rites, Urban Legend, Another Day in Paradise and High Fidelity (2000).
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↑ "CinemaScore". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on August 9, 2019. Retrieved September 21, 2021. Each film's score can be accessed from the website's search bar.
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