High Fidelity
March 5th 2009 18:27
High Fidelity, 2000
John Cusack plays Rob, a fellow who is not so much unlucky in love as he is a victim of his own neuroses. After several failed attempts at getting things going with other relationships, he settles down with Laura into an ideal situation - and then, after the proscribed amount of time, screws it up. He's not alone in it, of course, because she has her own set of issues, but the play between them back and forth of exactly how the thing goes awry is so very accurate in terms of real relationships that it's both sad and hilarious, but ultimately triumphant with the moment of the true rectal craniectomy comes through.
(That's "getting one's head out of his/her butt", for those not medical-term inclined.)
I have referred a number of friends and associates to watch this movie as a kind of homework assignment for wonky relationships. The illustration of the fact this it's not if you screw up in a relationship but how you cope with the screw ups that determines a relationship's worth is so perfectly executed that I, for one, am hard-pressed to find a movie that says it better. When do you call it quits? When do you hang on? Is it true that a time away from each other can be just as important to the health of the relationship as the time spent together?
The characters are not perfect people. There is absolutely no one in the story who is without fault - not even Liz (played by Joan Cusack, of course), who "doesn't want to take sides" and then promptly does. Everyone has their flaws, and the story is not so much about examining them under a microscope as it is about the characters discovering them and then making the conscious choice whether or not they want to continue being the victim of them.
I'll make this side now: Iben Hjejle as Laura is one of the most beautifully genuine and engaging women I've ever seen. She is not model-perfect, and I adore that. Her honest smile, her laugh, her demeanor is so real that we can truly believe that Rob is in love with her. It's not a Hollywood-prescribed plot device where "gorgeous chick is inexplicably in a relationship with scruffy nerf-herder" - the love on screen is real and tangible, including all of the stupid choices and moments of desperation. Alas, Iben has done very few American films, but I'd love to see more from her.
I dust this one off a few times a year, and I can't imagine a time when I won't.
4 Stars
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Comment by Cibbuano
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