Hello! Remember us? Yes, it's been nearly a month without a film here at Tuesday Night is Film Night - did you miss us? Who said "no"?
Yes we're here and we have time this week and we are going to watch a film.
Tonight's film has been one we have been looking forward to, as we have read the book and now we want to see if the film version measures up. But will it be music to our ears or a cacophonous racket as we watch;
High Fidelity
The film is based on the superb book of the same name, by Nick Hornby. However the transition from page to screen has taken the story across the Atlantic and it's now set in the USA rather than a swinging 1990's London. As a result the musical references have taken on a more trans-Atlantic slant. By the way, the title does have a bearing on the story and music is key.
The lead character is Rob Gordon, played quite superbly by John Cusack. Rob runs his own record store; see? Music reference. At the start of the film Rob is is a relationship with Laura (Iben Hjejle), but only just. In fact within the first few minutes that relationship ends and our story begins. In the book Rob virtually narrates the story, filling in the details where required. Migrating this to screen, could have taken the form of flashbacks, instead director Stephen Frears opts for Rob talking directly to camera, regardless of the situation (and the occasional flashback for visual integrity). This breaking of the fourth wall works really well in the context of this film, as it not only mirrors the book, but it provides a useful way to fill the film with narration and direction without the need to constantly cut to flashbacks or removing the central character from the screen. Rob can hop in and out of the scene without distracting from the current storyline.
Essentially High Fidelity plots out the deterioration of Laura and Rob's relationship and then we see if they get back together again. Rob is a tad obnoxious, self-centred and unsure whether he has grown up or not. He likes to collate lists. The first that we see evidence of is his Top Five Break-ups, a list that Laura doesn't feature on, as if to prove a point to the recently departed Laura. In that regard, High Fidelity could be classed as a coming of age film, it is certainly about growing up, for Rob at least.
The comical musings in this film are generally provided by Rob's colleagues at the record store; Dick and Barry. Dick is quiet, shy but knowledgeable and played perfectly by Todd Louiso. Barry is loud, forthright, opinionated and obnoxious. So it was only fitting that Jack Black was to play this character and he does so with aplomb.
There was a division of opinions on the TNiFN panel as to whether the book was better than the film, or the film was better than the book. In fact it was a 50-50 split of opinions. (And as there were only two of us tonight, the maths were not hard to work out!)
As the film staged the plot in Chicago, whereas the book was set in London, the transition to film takes it out of the book's context immediately. Gone are the references to British music and in are more comments about American music. Even to the point of having an unnecessary "Born In The USA" cameo from Bruce Springsteen; which seemed to be more for elevating the film's status, by the addition of a rock star, rather than adding to the story's gravitas by aligning the plight of Rob's story to that of a song lyric. It would have been nice to have some more British songs in the soundtrack, as that would have at least provided a nod to the story's origin. We digress.
All in all, High Fidelity is a great story. Nick Hornby certainly nailed that one. We would definitely suggest reading the book and watching the film, just to compare notes. John Cusack is really good as Rob, his deadpan looks to camera to relate his feelings are a fresh approach and do add to the style of delivery. There was also some sibling rivalry as Joan Cusack played Liz a friend of Laura's. John and Joan being brother and sister. Who said you don't learn anything here?
We certainly enjoyed the film, hopefully reflected in the score below.
TNiFN Rating 81%
IMDB Link
