Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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pi I Movies ijj 'High Fidelity' mirrors bad love song by Kenley Young Gamecock Critic b-bi OUT OF -iir -& -it li you’ve seen one movie starring John Cu sack, you’ve pretty much seen them all — or so the saying goes. Indeed, outside of his critically ac claimed role in Steven Frears’ “The Grifters” and his recent turn as a twisted puppeteer in Spike Jonze’s “Being John Malkovich,” that adage isn’t too far off the mark. But take a cursory romp, if you will, through Cusack’s impressive catalog of movies (stopping briefly to admire gems like “The Sure Thing,” “Say Anything” and “Grosse Point Blank”), and one thing will become perfectly clear — not an actor alive can play a young, disaffected, disillusioned wise-ass quite-like Cusack. The moral! Being typecast hasn t exactly been detrimental to Cusack’s career, nor has it prevented him from turning in fine performances. In fact, with the exception of the beloved “The Break fast Club,” “Say Anything” is the smartest teen ro mance that the ‘80s ever churned out. With director Frears back at the helm in “High Fidelity,” Cusack is at it again, this time as Rob Gor don, owner of a humble record store in Chicago that sells music mainly on vinyl. The movie opens with an emotional breakup between Rob and his long time girlfriend, Laura (Iben Hjejle). In his search for answers, Rob examines and narrates his rocky love life to the audience, talk ing to the camera (big surprise) and airing his laun dry as if we’re all supposed to care. And by movie’s eridTwe do. That’s what Cusack does best. Top Five lists figure prominently in Rob’s life, as he rates everything from top five breakups to top five dream jobs to top five songs to play on a Monday morning. His mind, it seems, operates on ly in simple ordinals and classifications, a glaring indication that Rob is stuck in that nebulous lim bo between adolescence and adulthood. He’s not ready to accept responsibility for his life. Dick (Todd Louiso) and Barry (Jack Black) are Rob’s only employees at Championship Vinyl, and their form of refreshing comedy is a welcome foil to Rob’s brooding. Louiso and Black craft their characters by adopting the attitudes of the same pretentious college radio snots we’ve all met (Come on. Everybody knows at least one). Dick is the qui et, annoyingly sensitive fount of useless informa tion about bands you’ll never hear, either be cause they ’re subversive of the mainstream or they just plain suck. Barry is the loud, annoyingly arro gant fount of useless information about bands you have heard of and would love to forget. They have one thing in common — their opinions matter; yours don’t. Both portrayals are hilarious and dead on-balls accurate. The movie seems a lot longer than it is, per haps because Cusack has a knack for never-ending dialogue or because his “top five” theme becomes a tiresome gimmick. We’ve seen tliis before from him, and we’ve seen him do it better. But it is, undeniably, a delight to watch Cusack work, to see him take on the role of Everyman with such brutal honesty. That’s where “High Fideli ty” succeeds. It is an honest glimpse into the life of a vulnerable, confused, immature male who des perately wants to grow up, in spite of himself. Best of all, Cusack’s Everyman isn’t always morally up standing. In fact, he can be downright depraved. But he is unflinchingly honest. Always. Cusack’s character exhibits the same type of morally questionable behavior that every male is guilty of, but no male will admit. And that’s why guys relate to him. At the very least, see “High Fidelity” for its star-spangled supporting cast, including Lisa Bonet (whoa!), Joan Cusack, Sara Gilbert, Tim Robbins, Lili Taylor, Natasha Gregson.Wagner and Cather ine Zeta-Jones. b y Peter Johnson Gamecock Critic -> -> out of John Cusack has been one of America’s most endearing actors since the early ‘80s, so it was a little difficult at first seeing him play a snobby record store owner with a girlfriend who dumps him be cause of his apparent mistreatment of her. In “High Fidelity,” Rob Gordon (Cusack) is liv ing in Chicago as the owner of Championship Vinyl. After a particularly painful breakup with his girl friend, Laura tlben Hjejle), he rationalizes that he needs to go back and review his most painful breakups and the reasons for each of them. He recounts them in the form of a top five list, similarly to the way he discusses music with his fellow record store employees, the timid and qui et Dick (Todd Luiso), and the hilariously rude Bar ry, played by Jack Black of Tenacious D. Cusack’s character doesn’t seem like such a likable guy at first. He runs down the list of his top . five most painful breakups, and in the ensuing flash backs you find yourself pitying him. But these breakup accounts are simply his view of the rela tionships. As Gordon gets in contact with each of the ex es on his top five list throughout the movie, he comes to the realization that some of these painful splits were blatantly his fault. His problem with maintaining a relationship with a woman is due mainly to his deep-rooted fear of commitment and lack of maturity in the matter. Once he starts to think back on these past relationships, he realizes that some of the more hurtful ones were the ones that were the smartest to end. He reevaluates and reorganizes his thinking much in the same way that he is simultaneously reoiganizing his massive record collection from al phabetical to chronological. In his quest to find out why women love to break upXvith him, Gordon discovers that there re ally are valid reasons for his getting dumped. Gordon decides that he loves Laura, who had been wooed away by upstairs neighbor, a pony-tailed, sushi eating Tim Robbins, and attempts to repair his relationship with her. Jack clack steals tne snow in me scenes ne s in with his incessant mistreatment of customers and endless criticism of his coworkers tastes in mu sic. He’s even in a hysterical music cameo, singing Marvin Gaye’s classic “Let’s Get It On.” High Fidelity is one of those movies that will have music fans recognizing those abstract songs, pointing out familiar record covers to their friends and marveling at the depth of Gordon’s record col lection. And many will end up admiring how his perception on life and love has changed chrono logically, as has his record collection. by Robert Fleming Assistant Encore Editor -A A A out of A A A A The standard love and loss tale is given a whole new sound with “High Fidelity.” Fidelity explores the world of romance and the trials and tribulations that occur with in it. And while this is a popular topic in most movies right now, this is not anoth er “Empire Records.” “High Fidelity” deals with the more mature aspects of relationships and not the teenybopper sappy stuff. What sets this movie apart from most love gone bad and come back again films is the soundtrack. Unlike its younger siblings, Fidelity uses music to convey feelings and emotion almost like it was an other actor. The choices of songs have an integral part in the film and are not selected to try and sell an album in Sam Goody. Also, the obscure na ture of the selections combines the best in old and new artists that are often overlooked by most, unless you’re a music junkie or work in a record shop. The film is incredibly well wntten, combining just enough humor and wit to keep it from being very depressing, but not so much that it’s a slap happy comedy. This script is acted wonderfully by the ensemble cast. John Cusack delivers a great performance as the less than admirable Rob. Iben Hjejle also displays the same talent in playing his girlfriend, Laura. More of the comedical aspects of the film are because of the presence of Todd Louiso and the insanely brilliant Jack Black. Tim Robbins also adds to the humor of this film, but I don’t think it was intentional. “High Fidelity” throws out the gauntlet to the moronic love sap that fills up our multiplexes. The outstanding mixture of romance, comedy and mu sic make this film one that deserves some atten tion. Sure it won’t be the best film you see this year, but it definitely won’t leave you with a bad song stuck in your head as you leave the theater. And that’s definitely worth the price of admission to me. Photos Courtesy of Touchstone Pictures (Above) Rob Gordon (Cusack) and Laura (Hjejle) try to save each other and their relationship. (Top) Gordon, Barry (Black) and (Louiso, center) have little or no patience for customers (Tim Robbins, right) who aren’t in the groove.