High Fidelity | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Stephen Frears |
Screenplay by | D. V. DeVincentis Steve Pink John Cusack Scott Rosenberg |
Based on | High Fidelity by Nick Hornby |
Produced by | Tim Bevan Rudd Simmons |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Seamus McGarvey |
Edited by | Mick Audsley |
Music by | Howard Shore |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures Distribution |
Release dates |
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Running time | 113 minutes |
Countries | United States United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | $30 million [2] |
Box office | $47.1 million [2] |
High Fidelity is a 2000 romantic comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears, starring John Cusack, Jack Black, and Iben Hjejle. The film is based on the 1995 British novel of the same name by Nick Hornby, with the setting moved from London to Chicago and the protagonist's name changed. Hornby expressed surprise at how faithful the adaptation was, saying "at times, it appears to be a film in which John Cusack reads my book." [3]
Following a breakup with his most recent girlfriend, Rob Gordon recounts his most painful breakups, seeking to find a reason for his failed romances. The film is styled around Rob talking to the camera and narrating his own story.
Cusack was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.
Rob Gordon is a music-loving man with a poor understanding of women. After being dumped by his live-in girlfriend of two years, Laura, he tries to understand how he failed in his relationships by seeking out his old partners.
By day, Rob works at his record store, Championship Vinyl, where customers drift through. He and his employees Dick and Barry, armed with an encyclopedic knowledge of all things musical, compile "Top 5" lists for every conceivable occasion, openly mock the tastes of their customers, and sell few records.
Two shoplifting, skateboarding teenagers, Vince and Justin, are an annoyance to them until Rob listens to a recording that they made as The Kinky Wizards. He offers them a record deal, the first under his own label, Top 5 Records. During his off-hours, he pines for Laura and tries to win her back.
Laura had moved out and was living with Ian. Initially, Rob doesn't think he knows him, but coming across a letter in the hall addressed to I. Raymond, he realizes Ian is 'Ray', their former upstairs neighbor, who used to regularly keep them awake by loudly having frequent sexual encounters. Rob and Laura would often comment on his exploits.
Laura's father, who liked Rob, dies. Rob attends his funeral with Laura. Shortly after the reception, Rob realizes he has always had one foot out of the door and never committed to her—and in doing so, neglected his own future. They resume living together. He meets a music columnist and develops a crush, but wonders while making a mixtape for her if he would always be jumping from rock to rock.
Rob tells Laura that other women are just fantasies, Laura is reality, and he never tires of her. He proposes marriage; she thanks him for asking. She arranges for him to revisit his former love of DJing.
At the celebration of the newly released single by Vince and Justin organised by Laura, where Barry's band plays "Let's Get It On", Rob is surprised that Barry's band is not a disaster. He is also relieved to discover that Barry has decided against using one of his original names for the band, "Sonic Death Monkey," or "Kathleen Turner Overdrive," preferring instead to call his band "Barry Jive and the Uptown Five."
Rob makes a mixtape for Laura and feels he has finally learned how to make her happy.
Nick Hornby's book was optioned by Disney's Touchstone Pictures in 1995, where it went into development for three years. [4] Mike Newell was slated to direct the film with a script written by Con Air screenwriter Scott Rosenberg. [5] [6] Disney executive Joe Roth had a conversation with recording executive Kathy Nelson, who recommended John Cusack and his writing and producing partners D. V. DeVincentis and Steve Pink adapt the book. She had previously worked with them on Grosse Pointe Blank and felt that they had the right sensibilities for the material. [7] According to Cusack, DeVincentis is the closest to the record-obsessive characters in the film, owning 1,000 vinyl records and thousands of CDs and tapes. [8] They wrote a treatment that was immediately greenlit by Roth. [7]
The writers decided to change the book's setting from London to Chicago because they were more familiar with the city, and it also had a "great alternative music scene", according to Pink. [9] Cusack said, "When I read the book I knew where everything was in Chicago. I knew where the American Rob went to school and dropped out, where he used to spin records. I knew two or three different record shops when I was growing up that had a Rob, a Dick and a Barry in them". [10] Charlotte Tudor, of the film's distributor, Buena Vista, said: "Chicago has the same feel as north London, there is a vibrant music scene, a lot of the action is set in smoky bars and, of course, there is the climate. But everyone, including Nick, felt that geography was not the central issue. It has a universal appeal". [11] Scenes were filmed in the neighborhood of Wicker Park, [12] and on the campus of Lane Tech High School.
Cusack found that the greatest challenge adapting the novel was pulling off Rob Gordon's frequent breaking of the fourth wall and talking directly to the audience. [4] The screenwriters did this to convey Rob's inner confessional thoughts, and were influenced by a similar technique in the Michael Caine film Alfie . [4] Cusack rejected this approach because he thought that "there'd just be too much of me." [4] Once Newell dropped out as director and remains on as executive producer and Stephen Frears signed on to replace him as director, he suggested using the technique and everyone agreed. [4]
Cusack and the writers floated the idea that Rob could have a conversation with Bruce Springsteen in his head, inspired by a reference in Hornby's book where the narrator wishes he could handle his past girlfriends as well as Springsteen does in his song "Bobby Jean" on Born in the U.S.A. [13] They never believed they would actually get the musician to appear in the film, but thought putting him in the script would make the studio excited about it. [4] Cusack knew Springsteen socially, and called the musician up and pitched the idea. Springsteen asked for a copy of the script and subsequently agreed to do it. [4]
Near the film's completion, it was revealed that Scott Rosenberg would share screenplay credit with Cusack, DeVincentis & Pink. Rosenberg's original draft took place in Boston and was drastically different from Hornby's book and the writing team's adaptation. The three reached out to Rosenberg who agreed to take his name off the credits. However, Rosenberg eventually refused to do so, leading to a writing credit dispute. According to Pink, Rosenberg was given credit due to a now-abolished rule in the WGA which gave full credit to the first screenwriter attached to any adaptation for "anything they extracted from the book, or from the material from which they were adapting." [14]
Frears was at the Berlin International Film Festival and seeing Mifune's Last Song , starring Iben Hjejle, realized that he had found the female lead. Frears read Hornby's book and enjoyed it, but did not connect with the material because it was not about his generation. [15] He accepted the job because he wanted to work with Cusack again (after teaming on The Grifters ) and liked the idea of changing the setting from London to Chicago. [15] The director was also responsible for insisting on keeping Jack Black in the part of Barry. [15] Black never auditioned and had initially passed on the part until Frears convinced him to take the role. [16] Frears has said that many people from the studio came to watch his rushes. [17] The role of Dick was originally offered to David Arquette, and Artie Lange auditioned for Barry. [18] [19] Todd Louiso was cast as Dick after Arquette passed on the offer. [20] Liz Phair was also considered for the character Marie DeSalle, before Lisa Bonet was cast. [21]
Production began on April 26, 1999 in Chicago, Illinois. [22] [23] Filming also took place on location at Wicker Park and the Biograph Theater, as well as authentic music venues. [24]
High Fidelity premiered at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood. The post-party was held at the Sunset Room, where Tenacious D performed. [25] The film was opened in a wide release in the United States on March 31, 2000, grossing $6.4 million during its opening weekend and finishing in fifth place at the US box office. It opened July 21, 2000 in the United Kingdom on 227 screens and grossed $1.1 million, finishing fourth for the weekend. [26] It went on to gross $47.1 million worldwide, of which $27.3 million was from the US and Canada. [2]
High Fidelity received positive reviews from critics at 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 165 reviews, with an average rating of 7.60/10. The critical consensus states: "The deft hand of director Stephen Frears and strong performances by the ensemble cast combine to tell an entertaining story with a rock-solid soundtrack." [27] The film has a score of 79 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 35 critics. [28] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale. [29]
Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four and wrote, "Watching High Fidelity, I had the feeling I could walk out of the theater and meet the same people on the street — and want to, which is an even higher compliment." [30] In his review for the Washington Post , Desson Howe praised Jack Black as "a bundle of verbally ferocious energy. Frankly, whenever he's in the scene, he shoplifts this movie from Cusack." [31] In his review for The New York Times , Stephen Holden praised Cusack's performance, writing, "a master at projecting easygoing camaraderie, he navigates the transitions with such an astonishing naturalness and fluency that you're almost unaware of them." [32] USA Today did not give the film a positive review: "Let's be kind and just say High Fidelity doesn't quite belong beside Grosse Pointe Blank and The Sure Thing in Cusack's greatest hits collection. It's not that he isn't good. More like miscast." [33] In his review for Entertainment Weekly , Owen Gleiberman gave the film a "B−" rating and wrote, "In High Fidelity, Rob's music fixation is a signpost of his arrested adolescence; he needs to get past records to find true love. If the movie had had a richer romantic spirit, he might have embraced both in one swooning gesture." [34]
Peter Travers, in his review for Rolling Stone , wrote, "It hits all the laugh bases, from grins to guffaws. Cusack and his Chicago friends—D.V. DeVincentis and Steve Pink—have rewritten Scott Rosenberg's script to catch Hornby's spirit without losing the sick comic twists they gave 1997's Grosse Pointe Blank ." [35] In his review for The Observer , Philip French wrote, "High Fidelity is an extraordinarily funny film, full of verbal and visual wit. And it is assembled with immense skill." [36] Stephanie Zacharek, in her review for Salon.com, praised Iben Hjejle's performance: "Hjejle's Laura is supremely likable: She's so matter-of-fact and grounded that it's perfectly clear why she'd become exasperated with a guy like Rob, who perpetually refuses to grow up, but you can also see how her patience and calm are exactly the things he needs." [37]
Empire magazine readers voted High Fidelity the 446th greatest film in their "500 Greatest Movies of All Time" poll. [38] It is also ranked #14 on Rotten Tomatoes' 25 Best Romantic Comedies. [39] In its June 2010 issue, Chicago magazine rated it #1 in a list of the top 40 movies ever filmed in Chicago. [40]
Alternative singer-songwriter Regina Spektor was watching the movie when she wrote her 2006 song "Fidelity", which marked her first entry into the Billboard charts. [41] That same year a musical stage adaptation premiered on Broadway and ran for 13 performances. [42] In 2010, Tanya Morgan member Donwill released the solo album Don Cusack In High Fidelity, which he recorded from the perspective of the film's character. [43]
In April 2018, ABC Signature Studios announced that it was developing a television series adaptation of High Fidelity with Midnight Radio (Scott Rosenberg, Jeff Pinkner, Josh Appelbaum, and Andre Nemec). Rosenberg would return to script the series, which features a female lead in the Cusack role. [44] The series was adapted by Veronica West and Sarah Kucserka. In late September 2018, Zoë Kravitz, Lisa Bonet's daughter, was cast as the lead. The first season consists of ten episodes. [45]
Originally announced for Disney's then-upcoming streaming service Disney+, it was reported in April 2019 that the series had been shifted to Hulu. Disney+'s SVP of content Agnes Chu stated that the series had "evolved" in a direction that was better-suited for Hulu. [46]
On October 30, 2019, it was announced that the series would premiere on February 14, 2020. [47] In August 2020, the series was canceled, after one season. [48]
High Fidelity is a novel by British author Nick Hornby first published in 1995. It has sold over a million copies and was later adapted into a feature film in 2000, a Broadway musical in 2006 and a TV series in 2020. In 2003, the novel was listed on the BBC's survey The Big Read.
Nicholas Peter John Hornby is an English writer and lyricist. He is best known for his memoir Fever Pitch (1992) and novels High Fidelity and About a Boy, all of which were adapted into feature films. Hornby's work frequently touches upon music, sport, and the aimless and obsessive natures of his protagonists. His books have sold more than 5 million copies worldwide as of 2018. In a 2004 poll for the BBC, Hornby was named the 29th most influential person in British culture. He has received two Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay nominations for An Education (2009), and Brooklyn (2015).
Joan Mary Cusack is an American actress and comedian. She received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her roles in the comedy-drama Working Girl (1988) and the romantic comedy In & Out (1997). Her other starring roles include those in Toys (1992), Addams Family Values (1993), Nine Months (1995), Cradle Will Rock (1999), Where the Heart Is (2000), Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) and Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008). She has also provided the voice of Jessie in the Toy Story franchise (1999–present), for which she won an Annie Award, and Abby Mallard in Chicken Little (2005).
John Paul Cusack is an American actor. Cusack began acting in films during the 1980s, starring in coming-of-age dramedies such as Sixteen Candles (1984), Better Off Dead (1985), The Sure Thing (1985), Stand by Me (1986), and Say Anything... (1989). In the 1990s, he then started appearing in independent films and had leading men roles in Bullets Over Broadway (1994), Con Air (1997), Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), Anastasia (1997), The Thin Red Line (1998), Being John Malkovich (1999), High Fidelity (2000), America's Sweethearts (2001), Max (2002), and Runaway Jury (2003).
Sir Stephen Arthur Frears is a British director and producer of film and television, often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply-drawn characters. He has received numerous accolades including three BAFTA Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award as well as nominations for two Academy Awards. In 2008, The Daily Telegraph named Frears among the 100 most influential people in British culture. In 2009, he received the Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He received a knighthood in 2023 for his contributions to the film and television industries.
Mifune is a 1999 romantic comedy film, starring Iben Hjejle and Anders W. Berthelsen. Directed by Søren Kragh-Jacobsen, it was the third film made according to the Dogme 95 group rules. The film was a great success in Denmark and an international blockbuster, ranked among the ten best-selling Danish films worldwide. It was produced by Nimbus Film.
"Thunder Road" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. It is the opening track on his breakthrough album Born to Run. While never released as a single, "Thunder Road" is nevertheless considered one of Springsteen's greatest songs and one of the top rock songs in history. It is ranked number 111 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.
Grosse Pointe Blank is a 1997 American black comedy film directed by George Armitage from a screenplay by Tom Jankiewicz, D. V. DeVincentis, Steve Pink and John Cusack. It stars Cusack, Minnie Driver, Alan Arkin and Dan Aykroyd and follows the story of assassin Martin Q. Blank (Cusack), who returns to his hometown of Grosse Pointe, Michigan to attend a high school reunion. The film's score was composed by Joe Strummer, former member of the punk rock band the Clash; the film's soundtrack contains a number of popular and alternative punk rock, ska and new wave songs.
Iben Hjejle is a Danish actress, notable for starring in the Stephen Frears film High Fidelity (2000). In Denmark, she is perhaps best known for appearing in the Danish television sitcom Langt fra Las Vegas and playing the girlfriend of Danish comedian Casper Christensen, her former real life partner. She also plays Christensen's girlfriend in the sitcom Klovn (Clown) and the title role in the TV crime series Dicte.
Natasha Gregson Wagner is an American actress. She is the daughter of film producer Richard Gregson and actress Natalie Wood. She has appeared in films including Lost Highway, Two Girls and a Guy,First Love, Last Rites, Urban Legend, Another Day in Paradise and High Fidelity (2000).
Steve Pink is an American actor, director and writer. He is the director of the comedy films Accepted and Hot Tub Time Machine, and the co-writer of the films Grosse Pointe Blank and High Fidelity.
High Fidelity is a musical with music by Tom Kitt, lyrics by Amanda Green, and a book by David Lindsay-Abaire.
"Little Latin Lupe Lu" was written by Bill Medley in 1962, and became the song that launched The Righteous Brothers' career. Though it peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 49 on June 8, 1963, Medley and his partner, Bobby Hatfield, were offered a national distribution contract by VeeJay records. It was purchased the following year by Phil Spector, who went on to produce their most successful recordings. The song has been covered by more than twenty artists, notably by Bruce Springsteen, from 1977-2009.
Zoë Isabella Kravitz is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the romantic comedy film No Reservations (2007). Her breakthrough came with portraying Angel Salvadore in the superhero film X-Men: First Class (2011), and she had further franchise roles in The Divergent Series (2014–2016) and the Fantastic Beasts film series (2016–2018).
Luke George Evans is a Welsh actor and singer. He began his career on the stage, and performed in London's West End productions of Rent, Miss Saigon, and Piaf before making his film breakthrough in the Clash of the Titans 2010 remake. Following his debut, Evans was cast in the action and thriller films Immortals (2011), The Raven (2012), and the re-imagined The Three Musketeers (2011).
The Eclipse is a 2009 Irish supernatural drama film written and directed by Conor McPherson and starring Ciarán Hinds, Iben Hjejle, Éanna Hardwicke and Aidan Quinn.
"I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)" is a soul song co-written and performed by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder and Yvonne Wright, for Wonder's fifteenth studio album, Talking Book (1972). The song is featured in the 2000 comedy-drama High Fidelity starring John Cusack and Jack Black, and is included on its soundtrack. It was also included in season 1, episode 10 of the 2020 Hulu series High Fidelity starring Zoe Kravitz.
High Fidelity is an American romantic comedy television series developed by Veronica West and Sarah Kucserka for Hulu. Based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Nick Hornby and its 2000 film adaptation, it stars Zoë Kravitz as Robyn "Rob" Brooks, a young record store owner who revisits her past relationships through music and popular culture.
Michael R. Cusack is an Australian animator, voice actor, writer, director, producer, photographer, and musician. He is best known as the co-creator and co-star of the Adult Swim animated comedy series Smiling Friends (2022–present), alongside Zach Hadel, and as the creator and star of the Adult Swim animated comedy series YOLO (2020–present) and the Hulu animated comedy series Koala Man (2023–present).
Koala Man is an animated sitcom created by Michael Cusack for Hulu. Developed by Cusack, Dan Hernandez, and Benji Samit, the series premiered on January 9, 2023 on Hulu in the United States and on Disney+ in Australia.