High Fidelity

HIGH FIDELITY

Rating: B
Actors, as a rule, are taught never to look directly at the camera. Whenever they do, the audience is suddenly reminded of their own relationship to what is occurring onscreen (i.e., that they're watching a movie), and the whole suspension of disbelief breaks down. Although deliberately violating this rule is nothing new (Mansfield Park did it just recently), High Fidelity uses the technique as the backbone of its story structure. John Cusack delivers one monologue to the camera after another, often for comic effect. And although director Stephen Frears manages to pull it off for the most part, we're constantly reminded that we're watching a movie. Ironically, it gets to the point where you feel less like you're watching a film than partaking in a standup comedy routine.

The film begins with Cusack breaking up with girlfriend Iben Hjejle (no relation to Giovanni Ribisi). As she storms out, he spitefully shouts after her that this breakup isn't even among the top five on his all-time list. What then follows for the remainder of the film is Cusack revisiting his past relationships, trying to assess what went wrong in each, and attempting to recontact those women who left indelible scars on his heart.

Many of the scenes take place in the independent record store Cusack's character owns. He and his two eccentric employees (Jack Black and Todd Louiso) share a consuming passion for records and music, such that working at the store is an act of love more than labor. They're virtual encyclopedias of musical knowledge, and somewhere among all the barely-organized stacks of vinyl and cassettes is the original-issue pressing of that LP you've searched for your whole life. Trust me - it's there. Unfortunately, I would have liked the plot to more heavily involve the store, and the people and events surrounding it. Although some half-hearted attempts are made in this direction, the truth is Cusack could just as easily work at a carwash and the main narrative wouldn't need to change one iota. It's a shame.

Although Cusack and Hjejle are fine in their roles, several other of the actors give overblown performances, most notably Jack Black and Joan Cusack. Although Black's character is supposed to be over-the-top, too often it seems he's trying to induce laughs where there aren't any by exaggerating his intonations and facial expressions to the point they become a self-conscious caricature. Cusack, for her part, delivers lines laced with profanity in a huff; the technique is again so self-conscious that we're too distracted to laugh.

I'm not giving much away by saying the final scene takes place at a party celebrating the release of a local band's first CD. There's really little purpose for this scene at all, except to wrap up the end of the film on a festive note. I mention this because it betrays one of the problems with the main plot - the resolution of the conflict isn't strong enough to bring down the curtain on its own. It's as if the screenwriters realized their story needed some extra oomph and couldn't think of a way to make the plot more interesting. So instead they staged this party at the end and loosely tied it in as a subplot.

In the final analysis, there is precious little that distinguishes High Fidelity from the vast throngs of romantic comedies which seem to perpetually flood the market. Perhaps this one has a little more sincerity, and a little more intelligence in its script. And I have the feeling that the themes of loss and regret which it touches upon won't be fully appreciated by a young teenage audience. So basically what we have here is a date movie for the somewhat older crowd, which when viewed from that perspective delivers on most of its promises.