Rushmore / High Fidelity

Rating:
Summary: Two great movies for the price of (roughly) one-and-a-half!
Review: These are two of my favorite movies, although I have no idea what they're doing together. Different directors, different writers, not even a shared cast member. The only thing they have in common is that they are both owned by Touchstone Home Video, and they're both great movies.

Although... Now that I think about it, this union seems fitting. You see, both of our protagonists (Jason Schwartzman as Max in Rushmore, and John Cusack as Rob in High Fidelity) are having difficulties in their love lives. They are both largely incapable of relating to the world on any real level; Max is at his best when directing his plays, which are surreal adaptations of popular movies, while Rob is most comfortable seeing the world through the eyes (or rather hearing it through the ears) of pop music. They both obsess over lists: For Max, the yearbook's listing of his accomplishments at Rushmore Academy; for Rob, the Top Five lists he and his record-store employees compile to while away the hours. And in the end, they both find a way to live closer to reality.

I'm sure that's not what I was meant to get out of this coupling, but it's what I got.

Incidentally, the Criterion edition of Rushmore is outstanding. Assuming that this High Fidelity is the same edition I have, it could stand for some better features, but the movie stands up nicely on its own.

This Double Feature is definitely worth your time.