OK film fans, the streak continues but despite spending some quality time in the cube farm I'm still feeling very blah. I think that's the best word I could think of to describe today because the tank is just running on empty. I'm severely bummed that I didn't get to see Hot Tub Time Machine and I still have John Cusack films running through my very sore and tired head. It got me to thinkin', I've never really explained my frequent use of clips John Cusack when posting my Top 5 Lists. Tonight, I make amends.
High Fidelity is the epitome of films Hollywood fails to get. It's a film about real people in real situations who act realistically. There are no explosions or chases or even a "big" message and yet we still find ourselves not only entertained but interested in the choices made by the characters and what the outcomes will be. The film's pace is unforced, allowing us to discover the personalities of the characters layer by layer.
Rob Gordon (Cusack), our 4th wall narrator, has just been dumped by his live-in girlfriend Laura (Danish gem Iben Hjejle). Rob owns a record store with the prerequisite employees, vinyl nerds whose minds are filled with factoids of importance only to them and others like them. Dick is the quiet and shy clerk while Barry (Jack Black in his breakout performance) is the know-it-all loudmouth. They were hired as part time workers for a three day shift each, both show up six days a week. There's a comfort level here for anyone who is or knows people like this. It doesn't matter what the field is, records, videos, books, coffee, health food or tattoo's; these are those people depicted as they are in real life.
Rob seems to be at a crossroads in his life but he can't seem to get out of the groove his life has worn into. Laura has moved out and is "staying" with a male friend. He decides to reflect further on his failing relationship by tracking down his Top 5 Break-up girlfriends to find out what went wrong. In most cases it was nothing earth shattering, like is the case in most of our lives. In youth much of dating is simply window shopping or practice for when we find the real thing. When you break-up you feel remorse, get sad and then get over it and move on to the next encounter. Rob seems to have made a second career out of being forlorn, valuing the relationship more in the aftermath than he did during its life.
Slowly, after seeing what his life has become with and without Laura, in addition to getting a fresh reminder that things aren't always as they seem, he begins to realize the rut he's in. Albert Einstein, a fairly smart guy, has a quote roughly stating that "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity." A light seems to come on for Rob, albeit dimly at first. He starts making different decisions, becoming more engaged in his life and changes his pattern of behavior. He soon reaps the benefits of that change. I've often be cynical about happy endings in films, especially those in the stereotypical big budget Hollywood releases. But here it feels right. It's a natural outcome that again feels organic and unforced. Plus we get a really good soundtrack and a Jack Black performance as good as anything in Tenacious D.
I saw this film when I was in the middle of a long relationship, neither in the blush of discovery nor in the winter of discontent. At the time I related more to Rob's career struggles, what to do with your life when you feel like you've reached a dead end. Now, several years after that relationship ran its course, I see this film in a new light and recognize that sometimes it's difficult to see the insanity of your choices when the rut you're in is ten feet deep. But even then, there's still light visible, reminding you of the direction you need to go.
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