Rating: Summary: This was meant to be set in the UK anyway Review: I couldn't see the point of this movie. I saw it inflight and kept wanting to shout out at John Cusak: "Don't be a wuss, stop whining the whole time! Be a man! Go join the foreign legion or paint your house or something". Even though this was based on a UK novel, you wouldn'f find an English bloke behaving like such a pathetic looser. No relationship? No problem, he'd be off down the pub with his mates.
Rating: Summary: High Fidelity Review: Good flick. I think one thing essential to liking this movie is relating to its humor. The main focus of the story in on Cusack's character recalling his past realtionships and how they ended, with him trying to figure out why. I found the story of the main character's past relationships very similar to mine and many of my friends in certain ways. The other part of the story centers around the record store owned by Cusack(sorry cant remember his name in the movie) and its two oversarcastic/overintellectual employees. You've seen guys like these in most music stores. So if you cant associate with the whiny relationship type humor or the whole record store atmosphere thing, you probably wont find this funny. Humor aside, I think the story takes a pretty good look into what men and women look for in a relationship, and what motivates them to either leave their partner for someone else or stay in the relationship. The acting was good, not spectacular. I dont think this kind of movie needs anything spectacular to make it work though.
Rating: Summary: Good Movie - Horrible DVD - reject the forced trailors! Review: This is a great movie, one of my personal favorites. I will not be buying on DVD however, because while it may boast bonus features and nice video/sound, it's not worth having to sit through eight minutes of trailors when you put in the disc -which, unlike a VHS, you can't skip over or fast forward. This is a horrible ploy that consumer's can't just accept. Return your DVD's if they feature this kind of forced advertising, and they'll get the picture. Your paying a lot of money for these things - the day they start handing out DVD's for free, I won't mind. The movie itself is wonderfully written and the acting is great. I will be enjoying this for years to come - on VHS.
Rating: Summary: WARNING: FORCED TRAILERS Review: Just a word of warning. This DVD has 3 trailers that you must watch. All buttons on the remote are disabled so you can't skip them or fast-forward. Do you want to watch 7 or 8 minutes of junk every time you insert the disk?
Rating: Summary: All time top 5 reasons for recommending this movie Review: 1. John Cusack is spectacular I love this guy because he is a superb actor. I have yet to see a film in which his acting was poor. He plays the role of Rob so well and while our character is not always likeable we end up sympathising with him. 2. Jack Black as Barry is they guy I tried to hate but he is just so funny I would hate this guy if I knew him in real life but thats only because he would beat me in sarcsam which is my second language. It is treatment of Dick that makes me want to hate him but I just couldn't do it. Why? Because its a cosby sweater and that brilliant vocal performance. 3. Its great soundtrack I also have the pleasure of owning this and its very good. I particularly like the rendition of Lets Get It On. 4. All the top five lists contained in the movie Some are funny, some are pointless but most of us do it at some stage. 5. It teaches us a lesson Never try to buy I Just Called To Say I Love You. I actually really like that song but I know where not to go to get it.
Rating: Summary: Awesome Book, Good Movie, Great DVD Review: High Fidelity has been one of my favorite books for years. The movie was pretty good, and did a reasonably good job representing Nick Hornby's vision. One problem is that the books isnt really a comedy or a love story, it straddles the line. Similarly, the movie has 2 separate personalities. It is both funny and romantic, but not at the same time. Still, I would give this 3-4 stars based on the cast alone. Jack Black shines in the role of Barry, and Cusack is pretty good too. Im giving the DVD 5 stars because of the special features. The deleted scenes will comfort fans of the book who were taken aback when the scene with the bitter wife and the record collection was omitted. There are more scenes like this. Not to mention that Harold Ramis and Beverly D'Angelo were in the movie, but ended up on the cutting room floor. Hornby fans will feel better once they check out the DVD.
Rating: Summary: Pretty darn good! And funny too! Review: This movie is worth watching a few times. As for John Cusack's character, I thought my own brother was obsessed with his record collection. LOL
Rating: Summary: Light but engaging Review: "High Fidelity" is the Americanized movie version of British writer Nick Hornby's novel of the same name; if you want a capsule summary of the premise and the plot, Amazon.com provides one in the space above these reviews. The transfer from one side of the Atlantic to the middle of North America (Chicago, to be exact) may or may not be an issue with you (chances are, if you're British, you won't like the change), but the translation from book to movie does serve to mute some of the distinctive voice of the work. Thus, although every attempt is made at a faithful reproduction, right down to the main character (Cusack) addressing the audience directly several times like a conventional narrator, some of the immediacy and relevance of, for example, the compulsive composition of top-5 lists for every subject, is partially lost. It is not completely lost, however, and in any case a movie and a book are always entirely different things. Approached on its own terms, this is not what one might call great filmmaking, but in its own understated way this is one of the more enjoyable films of the past year, at least for me. The characters are deftly drawn, and notably for a modern work, they change as the story progresses in ways with which a viewer may empathize readily--although, at the same time, I can sympathize with the movie critic who noted that certain of the supporting characters, especially the two record store employees, seem to be auditioning for roles in the TV sitcom version... Regardless, and despite the numerous cameo appearances (Lili Taylor, Tim Robbins, Bruce Springsteen, Catherine Zeta-Jones) which are more distraction than attraction, I enjoyed this film because it was about humans (not, as most Hollywood fare seems to be, about super-humans) and their imperfections. It's worth the time.
Rating: Summary: Great Movie! Review: One of the best movies of the year. See it! You'll love it.
Rating: Summary: John Cusack knows what he is good at. Review: Much like Grosse Pointe Blank (a film by the same team as High Fidelity), this film takes advantage of John Cusack's skills. Cusack is the everyman. In the 80s he appeared in a slew of teen love comedy's that a whole generation learned to identify with. In High Fidelity he does it again for Gen-Xers. The movie has a certain poignancy that I think many late-20 to early 30-somethings of today can easily understand. One might almost call it a chick flick for guys. The tone of the movie is prefectly set by a complimentary mix of humor and subject matter. The characterization is strong for the most part, however there are some plot holes and slow points that keep this from being a five star film. Still, the film is too enjoyable to vote it at a 3 or lower. The DVD contains several deleted scenes. Generally this is a mixed blessing. I will watch these scenes and then drop to my knees and praise the editor for doing his job correctly. However in the case of High Fidelity, there were several scenes that I actually wish had remained included. This miht have added some cohesiveness to the plot. Still, as I said above, there were points that the film did move slowly, particularly towards the end. So perhaps, adding more minutes to the film would have been the wrong idea. One might imagine that the movie could have been cut better to include the key points of some of these scenes while still keeping the film at a length where there was no attention drain. All in all, I do recommend this movie. Particularly for anyone who has a love of counterculture or has found themselves feeling as though their life, and especially their love-life, was ever in a point where they felt lost or hopeless and they have enough masochism in their hearts to want to relive that. As horrible as it sounds, i think there is some of that in all of us.
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