Cusack is more restrained and light on his feet here than he was in Being John Malkovich, often scowling to convey years of disappointment and fading dreams, but letting a smile slip through occasionally as well. Some of the jokes (the Dillinger line above for example) are new, but all them are brought off nicely by a fine cast. Many of the audience members at the screening I attended had also clearly read the book, as I often heard laughter beginning before the completion of a joke. I wanted to enjoy this film and I am thankful I did. I confess I have read the Hornby book (twice) and marked the (many) passages that made me giggle. This change allows Rob’s statement early in the film that John Dillinger was killed next to the theater in the background, and Dillinger’s girlfriend, Rob reports ominously, tipped off the police. I will note a few changes in the course of this review, but the major change from the novel to screen is transferring the action from London (book) to Chicago (film). These sections and others leave whole chunks of the book intact. Devincentis, Steve Pink, Cusack, and Scott Rosenberg, have Rob delivering monologues to the camera, listing pop songs usually but also lists of jobs he would like or things he misses about Laura. Director Stephen Frears and screenwriters D.V. The strength of the novel lies in Rob’s funny, engaging, and self-consciously confessional narrative voice. But then he becomes interested in a singer, Marie de Salle (Lisa Bonet, looking at bit like her ex-husband Lenny Kravitz before the haircut), and discovers that Laura is seeing the mysterious Ian (Tim Robbins at his funniest). Rob decides to contact the women on his list, while trying to convince Laura to return to him.

The departure of his live-in girlfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle) sets the already reflective Rob to recalling his previous relationships with women, specifically those on a list of his Top 5 Worst Breakups. The movie High Fidelity tells the so-far life story of mid-30s Rob Burton (John Cusack), the music-addicted, obsessively list-making owner of a low-rent record store called Championship Vinyl. Fans of the novel will likely appreciate the faithful transfer of the novel’s wandering plot and hilarious tone to the screen. Actually, it has sold a lot of copies (well over a million and of course there is a new movie tie-in edition), but can be labeled a “cult” novel because many readers feel very close to it and tend to relate to others who also enjoy it. This will be on the minds of some viewers because Hornby’s book has officially (I hereby decree) achieved cult status. High Fidelity is an adaption of the 1995 book of the same name by Nick Hornby, which means one can view it and consider how literature can (and cannot) be adapted to film.

High fidelity novel