TMS 30 Greatest Movies: #21 High Fidelity

Title: High Fidelity
Year: 2000
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Main Actors: John Cusack, Iben Hjejle, Todd Louiso, Jack Black, Tim Robbins
Ranked: Chip #15, Chaim #21, Daft Funk #15

Synopsis
Rob (Cusack), a record store owner, has to deal with the fact that his girlfriend Laura (Hjejle) has left him, mostly because he has not changed at all since the time she first met him. Rob's way of coping with his mid-life crisis is to count down and examine the top 5 breakups of his life, including his current one. While this is going on, Rob must deal with the antics of his two employees (Louiso and Black) and also try to deal with the fact that Laura starts dating his former upstairs neighbor. I feel like I have to mention that Joan Cusack is also in this movie, although she brings absolutely nothing to the film, just like she always does.

Reasons This Movie Kicks Ass

This movie is pretty what made making lists cool again. I've done the research, and before 2000, list making was down. After High Fidelity, list making's approval ratings shot up to over 90%. In all seriousness, this movie kicks ass because, for once, there's a cool romantic comedy about what it's like to be on the guy's side of things. Rob is almost the perfect protagonist for this movie. Just like all of us, he's not perfect, and he probably thinks he's cooler than he is. But you can tell he's being affected by the things going on around him. High Fidelity proved that you could be an elitist snob and still be likable.

Also, there's some brief Catherine Zeta-Jones-Douglas sideboob halfway through the movie. That counts for something, right?

Monster Role
As great as Cusack (John, not his Amazonian sister) is, I'm gonna have to hand this to Jack Black. This was before Black was a big celebrity, coming off supporting roles in The Cable Guy and Enemy Of The State. Black's character Barry is the perfect antidote to the seriousness that the rest of the movie can have. After any particularly depressing scenes, all you need is a shot of the interior of the record store to pick you back up, because you know Barry is coming (probably dancing/singing) to do something crazy and just a little bit asshole-ish. Also, his rendition of "Let's Get It On" at the end of the movie is breathtaking.

Make Your Weiner Tingle Moment
By far, the best laugh-out-loud moment of the film is when Rob confronts Laura's new boyfriend (A pony-tailed and underrated Tim Robbins) in the record store. At the end of their conversation, Rob sees 3 scenarios in his head as to how he would like to end the conversation, ranging from screaming obscenities to physical violence. I won't say anything more so I don't ruin it for those of you who have not seen this movie. For those of you that have, you're probably laughing to yourself already anyway.

Also for those that have seen the film, there is this classic exchange:

Customer: "Who is this?"
Rob: "The Beta Band."
Customer: "It's good."
Rob: "I know."

Watch this movie if you like.....
Top 5 lists, wacky at-work antics, random Lisa Bonet appearances, awful cooking smells

Let 'em riot. We're Sonic-fuckin'-Death Monkey.