The truth of the matter is that John Cusack is a ladies' man, who is at his best when starring in a romantic comedy, even if he is no Hugh Grant. He's cute and sleepy-eyed sexy enough for the ladies to buy him as a Romeo, but he's enough of a guy's guy that male audiences generally don't find him off-putting.
That's what makes him the perfect lead in the screen version of Nick Hornby's much-loved novel High Fidelity. It's a romantic comedy, but it's a romantic comedy for guys. Cusack plays the cynically introspective Rob Gordon, the owner of a small record store who, for various reasons, has shit luck with women. He's a jerk, basically, but he's not altogether clueless about his jerkiness. He struggles and obsesses and makes lists that he thinks define his life, but he's no closer to understanding women than he was in the fifth grade -- which happens to be when he got dumped for the first time. He's been in a few long-term relationships, but the fact that they ended is the only thing he focuses on. In short, he's got a lot of baggage.
As the film opens, Rob's girlfriend is in the process of moving out. She's a professional woman who's got her shit together, and Rob's just flappin' in the breeze, obsessing. This throws him into a state best described as manic catatonia -- he's alternately morose and impulsive. For example, when he reorganizes his record collection, he does it in chronological order -- not by copyright, but by the events the records represent in his life. He makes Top Five lists of his most memorable breakups. He grumps around his obsessions all day and all night -- one moment on the edge of figuring things out, the next moment acting like a total jackass.
Though High Fidelity is a guy's story, it's completely enjoyable for women because we not only know, but have loved and left every single one of the male characters in the film. Aside from the mired Rob, there's the touchy-feely sensitive guy who's extremely self-centered, the lovable indie rocker who in reality is a huge snob, and the beer-gut party animal who's a little too lonely -- and nasty -- for his own good. (The latter, played by Tenacious D's Jack Black, is the most lovable fat slob to hit the screen since John Belushi's Bluto in Animal House.) The women in the film are all strong, successful characters, revealing an interesting perspective on the motivations that drive men to act like such fools.
When any beloved book is made into a film, there's always the fear that it won't do the story justice. However, High Fidelity is entirely successful despite a drastic change in setting (the novel takes place in London, the film is set in Chicago) and the fact that for 90 percent of the movie Rob talks directly to the audience. Unbelievably, it's not annoying. And the soundtrack kicks ass.
The best part, though, is that the film provides an unblinking glimpse of one of the saddest and most exasperating types of guys that nearly every woman has experienced at least once in her life: Cusack makes Rob into that great ex-boyfriend, the one who broke up with us out of immaturity, and the one we keep hoping will pull his head out of his ass before we go off and marry someone else.
