Watch: High Fidelity 2000 123movies, Full Movie Online – Thirty-something Rob Gordon, a former club DJ, owns a not-so-lucrative used record store in Chicago. He not so much employs Barry and Dick, but rather keeps them around as they showed up at the store one day and never left. All three are vinyl and music snobs, but in different ways. Rob has a penchant for compiling top-five lists. The latest of these lists is his top-five break-ups, it spurred by the fact that his latest girlfriend, Laura, a lawyer, has just broken up with him. He believed that Laura would be the one who would last, partly as an expectation of where he would be at this stage in his life. Rob admits that there have been a few incidents in their relationship which in and of themselves could be grounds for her to want to break up. To his satisfaction, Laura is not on this top-five list. Rob feels a need not only to review the five relationships, which go back as far as middle school when he was 12, and try to come to terms with why the woman, or girl as the case may be, left him, but also, in the words of Charlie Nicholson, number four on the list, “what it all means” for why he has ended up where he is, which is nowhere, personally or professionally, close to what he envisioned. He also has to come to terms with what it means that Laura has moved on to Ian Raymond, a man for whom neither had any respect when they were together..
Plot: When record store owner Rob Gordon gets dumped by his girlfriend, Laura, because he hasn’t changed since they met, he revisits his top five breakups of all time in an attempt to figure out what went wrong. As Rob seeks out his former lovers to find out why they left, he keeps up his efforts to win Laura back.
Smart Tags: #breaking_the_fourth_wall #talking_to_the_camera #based_on_book #based_on_novel #two_word_title #man_wears_eyeglasses #woman_moans_from_pleasure #fantasy_sequence #teenage_boy #no_opening_credits #black_comedy #urban_comedy #sex_scene #college #looking_at_the_camera #telephone #2000s #1990s #1980s #word_play_in_title #pun_in_title
123movies | FMmovies | Putlocker | GoMovies | SolarMovie | Soap2day
7.4/10 Votes: 181,256 | |
91% | RottenTomatoes | |
79/100 | MetaCritic | |
N/A Votes: 1651 Popularity: 12.124 | TMDB |
**_Romantic head games become tedious_**Released in 2000 and directed by Stephen Frears, “High Fidelity” is a romcom/dramedy starring John Cusack, as Rob, the owner of a Chicago record store, co-starring Jack Black and Todd Louiso as his two employees, Barry and Dick. When Rob’s relationship with his live-in girlfriend, Laura (Iben Hjejle) falls apart, he reflects on the five worst break-ups of his dozen years of dating. His past girlfriends are played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, Joelle Carter, Lili Taylor and Natasha Gregson Wagner. Tim Robbins appears as Rob’s rival for Laura’s affections while Joan Cusack is on hand as Laura’s sister. Lisa Bonet plays a rocker chick, a passing fancy for Rob. Sara Gilbert has a bit part.
What’s interesting about “High Fidelity” is that it features the five general prototypes of guys’ dating life: (1.) the first crush & kiss, (2.) adolescent urgency & loss of virginity, (3.) the hot babe out of his league, (4.) the rebound best friend & soul mate, and (5.) his one true love (maybe).
If you’ve ever made a compilation tape for a babe and worked at a record store you might appreciate this film. You’ll particularly like it if you favor romantic head games, which I find irritating and is the main reason I have mixed feelings about the film (speaking as a one-woman type of guy). Because of this, I had a hard time staying with it, although there’s enough good in the movie to make it somewhat worthwhile. It’s witty and you can tell the creators put a lot of thought into it, but Rob’s mopey reflections as he constantly speaks to the camera get tedious after a while. Don’t get me wrong, John pulls off the challenging lead role and does so convincingly; I just found his perpetually-smoking character uninteresting. As far as the soundtrack goes, the 90’s pop rock struck me as mostly bland.
Thankfully, there are several amusing moments. For instance, the scene where someone confronts Rob at the record store in the second half is laugh-out-loud funny, but Rob’s relationship with Laura is decidedly Uninteresting; and Laura’s emotional instability and indecisiveness become increasingly annoying (anyone who would marry such a relationally fickle person would have to be insane). Actually, most of Rob’s romantic relationships become annoying although, like I said, there are amusing bits. Then there’s Barry who arrogantly thinks his opinion on music is law; I kept hoping he’d get his teeth knocked in. On a positive note, the mental manipulations of Rob’s unstable romantic life are offset by Dick, who shows the way to go.
“Empire Records” (1995) is the better movie simply because it doesn’t go overboard with the dating/romance head games crap.
The film runs 113 minutes and was shot in Chicago.
GRADE: C
What came first – the music or the misery?High Fidelity is directed by Stephen Frears and adapted to screenplay by D.V. DeVincentis, Steve Pink, John Cusack and Scott Rosenberg from the Nick Hornby novel. It stars Cusack, Jack Black, Iben Hjejle and Todd Louiso. Music is by Howard Shore and Cinematography by Seamus McGarvey.
Record store owner and compulsive list-compiler Rob Gordon (Cusack), embark’s upon a what does it all mean mission when his latest girlfriend leaves him.
Cusack and Pink take Hornby’s hugely popular novel and redirect it to Chicago, with joyous results. High Fidelity is a tale of human love and a love of music, a sort of battle of the sexes with a soundtrack of masculine life. Rob’s voyage of self discovery is highly amusing, the trials and tribulations of relationships bringing out a number of scenes and scenarios that ring true, not just tickling the funny bones, but also tugging the heart and cradling the brain.
Away from the doomed love angles it’s the music threads that literally strike the chords. Rob and his two co-workers Barry (Black) & Dick (Louiso) worship music and continually indulge in making top 5 lists whilst bickering with sarcastic glee in the process. All three actors are superb, a trio of odd balls bouncing off of one and other with a zest that’s infectious, though it’s decidedly Cusack’s show. A perpetual miserablist who addresses us the audience at frequent intervals, Rob in Cusack’s hands garners sympathy, pity and laughs in equal measure.
In the support slots is a ream of talent well in on the joke, beauties like Catherine Zeta-Jones (dropping F-Bombs like they are going out of fashion), Lisa Bonet & Joelle Carter are complimented by the comic skills of Joan Cusack, while Hjejle turns in a wily and womanly performance as the girlfriend who kicks starts Rob’s search for meaning. Elsewhere the sight of Tim Robbins as a new age hippy type – with a black belt in martial arts – is so much fun it reminds of what a good comic actor he can be as well.
As with Grosse Point Blank, another Cusack/Pink production, sound tracking is everything, and naturally given the setting of the story there is an abundance of classic tunes to delight in. All told it’s a special movie, for all sexes and for all music lovers, but especially for anyone who has had relationship problems. Now what did come first, the music or the misery? Priceless. 9/10
Cusack continues winning streak with this film
I read the novel when it first came out because the title intrigued me, and I found it quite good. When I heard John Cusack was adapting it and moving the action to Chicago(from London in the novel), I was a little worried, because I worry about changing things during adaptations for arbitrary reasons, but I needn’t have worried; though I have a few quibbles, which we’ll get to later, Cusack and Co. have done a fine job adapting the novel.First off, I’ve read one comment which claims it stereotypes “music geeks.” The type of people Hornby, Cusack, his co-writers(D.V. DeVincentis and Steve Pink, who also co-wrote GROSSE POINT BLANK, and Scott Rosenberg), and director Stephen Frears are portraying is a very particular type of “music geek”; the type who is a snob about music. Almost all of us, I would say, are aggressive about our likes and dislikes when it comes to music, but not many, I agree, compare liking Marvin Gaye and Art Garfunkel to “agreeing with both the Israelis and the Palestinians.” And probably not many of us would be so cut off from feelings that, when hearing about a person’s death, would find no better way of expressing their sorrow than listing their top 5 songs about death. Yet we do like these people as characters because we see even if they have some snotty attitudes, they do have a genuine love for their music, and they’re in a low-paying job because they love what they do. And who among us hasn’t turned to music when we’ve felt sad(or happy), like Rob does, or wished that Bruce Springsteen(and a pox on the person who, in their comments, implied he was passe. Bruce will NEVER be passe) would talk to us directly like he talks to us through his music? The novel and the movie captures all of that.
Another strength, of course, is Cusack’s performance. Woody Allen once said that while American actors were very good at playing virile men of action, there weren’t many who could play more “normal,” regular people. Cusack, on the other hand, has carved out a niche for himself playing regular guys. He doesn’t look like The Boy Next Door, and he’s neither stereotypically sensitive or hip, but comes across as a guy who feels both at ease and yet still longs for something more. At his best, like in movies such as THE SURE THING, SAY ANYTHING, THE GRIFTERS, BULLETS OVER BROADWAY, GROSSE POINT BLANK, and this, he plays people on the cusp of growing up, who are able to if they want to, but aren’t sure if they want to, and yet he’s made each of them different. Rob’s condition may be a little more conventional – he’s not sure if he wants to settle down yet – but Cusack, while unafraid to show his unlikable qualities, makes us like Rob anyway.
The rest of the cast is also quite good. The well-known names only get short takes(Lisa Bonet, Joan Cusack, Tim Robbins, Lili Taylor, Catherine Zeta-Jones), but they make the most of their time. I’ve never seen Iben Hjejle before(I haven’t seen MIFUNE), but she does well as the most grown-up person in the movie. But the real stars, besides Cusack and the music, are Jack Black and Todd Louiso as Rob’s co-workers. Black especially reminds me of people I knew.
As I said, I do have some quibbles. There are a couple of incidents in the book which don’t make it to the film which I would have liked to see(the Sid James Experience, and the lady who wanted to sell Rob a ton of valuable records for a ridiculously low price). I’m getting tired of movies which use rain as an expression of sorrow, and this is an example of overuse. And the character of Laura isn’t developed as well in the movie as she was in the novel. Nevertheless, this is well worth checking out.
Original Language en
Runtime 1 hr 53 min (113 min)
Budget 30000000
Revenue 47126295
Status Released
Rated R
Genre Comedy, Drama, Music
Director Stephen Frears
Writer Nick Hornby, D.V. DeVincentis, Steve Pink
Actors John Cusack, Iben Hjejle, Todd Louiso
Country United Kingdom, United States
Awards Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award3 wins & 22 nominations total
Production Company N/A
Website N/A
Sound Mix DTS, Dolby Digital, SDDS
Aspect Ratio 1.85 : 1
Camera Moviecam Compact, Panavision Primo Lenses, Panavision Panaflex Platinum, Panavision Primo Lenses
Laboratory Astro Color Lab, Chicago (IL), USA (dailies), Technicolor, London, UK
Film Length (7 reels), 3,152 m (Spain)
Negative Format 35 mm (Kodak Vision 200T 5274, Vision 500T 5279)
Cinematographic Process Spherical
Printed Film Format 35 mm