Okay, first off, Cody built up High Fidelity quite a bit. So I was expecting, pretty much, the best movie ever. In my humble, clueless opinion it was good overall– in some specific areas it achieved greatness and in others only subpar-ness.
My main turn-on in the movie was Jack Black. I absolutely love him. Hilarious to the level of pure insanity–fox-like insanity. My main turn-off? The obsessive self-centeredness of the main character. And a lot of reviews say that this movie captures the male view of romantic relationships, but isn’t that insulting to men if Cusak’s character cheats and worries almost exclusively about his own feelings? It’s more like a caricature of their point of view, perhaps. That said, Cusak’s performance in the role of a selfish, list-making record-store owner was fantastic. Not as good as Jack Black, though. No way. Without JB that movie would’ve fizzled more than sparkled.
As an aspiring screenwriter, the main thing I noticed about this film was that it broke many of the rules I learned about through my screenwriting research. “Limit or omit phone call scenes?” Nah, let’s throw in a ton of calls! “Don’t let one person talk too long so others are left standing around?” Whatever, let’s have everyone go off on rants–we’ll make it work! “Avoid flashbacks?” Forget that! Let’s include several!
Of course, the rule-breaking actually helped make the movie work. The diatribes? Brilliant. Phone calls? Key to the plot and to romantic relationships in general. Flashbacks? Crucial to setting up the resolutions that come he calls/meets up with the past girlfriends who make up his top 5 worst break-ups list. I guess those “don’ts” I read about are more like cautionary warnings for new screenwriters, who need to tread more carefully due to lack of experience.
Thinking back on the film, I realize why Cody may’ve found it a bit more powerful. He’s a music snob. He’s in a band. He’s a man. He’s from the midwest. And he’s 35. The exact demographic depicted. In fact he could have worked at Championship Vinyl and held his own with Rob, Dick and Barry. But he’s a mix of all three of them, and he’d never be rude to customers.
Oh, and if you’re a Jack Black fan, you may enjoy this interview with Jackie K. Cooper about School of Rock.
