Top five reasons why movies often bite:
Many a movie falls to at least one of these. And most of us have seen at least
one of them. It's disappointing to see one of them, too, unless you're in the
mood for a bad movie.
Thank God that High Fidelity isn't one of them.
To begin, it's an adaptation of a novel, and though I haven't read the novel
yet, after seeing the movie I really wish I had. John Cusack, who stars, was
involved at the least in the production of this movie, and it's a great movie.
The writing is great, with smart dialogue and intelligent writing.
The movie itself is about a man who has just recently broken up with his girlfriend
of quite a few years. Throughout the entire film he's trying to make sense of it
by going through his own personal top five breakups and finding out what went wrong
with each of them.
The movie is told via narration, with John Cusack breaking the fourth wall and
talking directly to the camera. This method in itself is one of my personal favourites,
as it makes the story a bit more personal to the viewer and, for some reason, makes
the narration much more effective. It's also more interesting to watch. Anyone can
do a voice-over type of narration, but that can get tiresome quickly. Here you get to
see Cusack's reactions and expressions as he talks about this and that. It's really quite
an effective narration tool, when used properly.
Another interesting point to make is that if you are male and you see this movie, you
will be able to identify with it, no doubt about it. There will be at least one instance
throughout the entire film where you will be able to point to the screen and say, "Hey,
yeah, I know what that's like!"
Smart and poignant and full of top five lists. You see, Cusack's character works
at a record store, and many of the bands which are mentioned are the kind that only an
enthusiast would know. That doesn't take away from the movie, though. Actually, it
only serves to add to the movie. These are three boys (Cuscak has two others as co-
workers) who are a plethora of trivial musical knowledge. It's fabulous to watch them
go at it, sometimes, because of their differences in musical taste. It just goes to
show how personal musical taste truly is.
Which is what this movie is. It's a very personal movie for anyone who goes to see
it because they will be able to see themselves in at least one part of it. Intelligent,
witty, funny as hell, and above all entertaining, this movie comes highly recommended.
Top five reasons to see this movie? Simple.
I know, I know, I put down "Stars John Cusack" twice, but I can't help it. I love
the man. He's great (I refer you to Grosse Pointe Blank for an example).
There. I'm done. Go see it.