High Fidelity - (Stephen Frears;2000;UK/USA) - ****
After a record store owner's girlfriend breaks up with him, he recalls past girlfriends on his Top 5 All-Time Most Memorable Breakups list to find out where he's going wrong.
In an era of horrible romantic-comedies, this is one of the few that stands out as one of the great ones. I really can't say that I would change a thing about this film. It's genuinely funny without using unimaginative, exploitation jokes common in most comedies. At the same time the film isn't about romance between two characters fully, but romance itself, which separates it from most films in it's genre. John Cusack and Iben Hjejle are both great in their lead roles, and the supporting cast is also very good, especially Jack Black and even Tim Robbins in a small role, both adding great comedic relief to the film. The soundtrack is excellent, and the film itself will attract music-buffs through dialogue and the music itself. It was either Omar or Ronnie that said Swingers was the Annie Hall of the 90's, I say the same for this film, only for the new decade....so far.
#18