John
Cusack has been one of our most underrated actors for quite sometime. He made
a name for himself in such 80's flicks as, Better Off Dead, One Crazy Summer and
Say Anything. What people forget, is what a talented force he can be. He's popped
up in such films as Fat Man and Little Boy, The Grifters, Grosse Pointe Blank,
Pushing Tin and last year's critically acclaimed Being John Malkovich.
His
new film High Fidelity isn't only a dead-on look at the intimate world of music
retail, it's also an honest and sometimes painful look at dating. Cusack plays
the owner of a Chicago record store and when he's not vending vinyl, he's constantly
messing up in the romance department. Through some very funny flashbacks, he evaluates
his love life in a dialogue with the audience, while trying to save his current
relationship.
Stephen
Frears (Dangerous Liaisons, The Grifters) directs this beautifully adapted film
and gets some major help from a truly gifted cast that includes Tim Robbins, Jack
Black and Lisa Bonet. (High Fidelity is based on the novel by the beloved British
writer Nick Hornby and was originally set in England.) As a member of the music
retail business, I really found this film to be devilishly funny. It's also hip
without being pretentious.
