McGuffin and Macguffin: #20

Ok gang, here we go. My Top 20 movies of all time.
One quick note: I'm limiting myself to one film per franchise, mostly to avoid repetition. And with that caveat, let's start this thing off right:

The charming tale of a d-bag record geek losing his girlfriend and learning all the wrong lessons (and a few of the right ones) while trying to win her back.

Adapting a movie from a book can be really tough, especially when that book takes place in another country, and ESPECIALLY when the book is entirely narrated in the first person. But somehow, some way the creators behind High Fidelity managed to produce a hilarious, touching and passionate movie that makes you forget that it’s a romantic comedy.

And so, because this is my first review and we have a long way to go, I present you with this cop-out: My Desert Island, All-Time Top 5 Reasons that High Fidelity Works!

5. Chicago - It would have been very easy for the filmmakers to simply discard the strong sense of atmosphere and place in Hornby’s London-based novel. Instead, the writers of the screenplay took inspiration not from the featured city itself, but rather the spirit behind the idea. Make your location a character. As such, without ever shoving it in our faces, every shot and every location feels real and unique, like real people living in a real city that lives and breathes with them.

4. Jack Black – Listen. A lot of people are sick of Jack Black. And with good reason.

Yeah... Hmm...

But here, as a small part of another person’s story, Barry’s manic mannerisms, ridiculous scenery chewing and passionate geekiness really work because, let’s be honest, we all know this guy. The guy who’s waaaaaaay too into a thing, doesn’t care if everyone knows it and spits on you for not knowing as much as him. Top it all with a highly redemptive and cathartic final tune and he’s the perfect friend you love to hate to love.

3. It’s Paced Like A Book – Most movies have a pretty predictable structure, what with the struggle and the learning and the climax and the victory and the end. High Fidelity kinda sweeps those contrivances to the side in favor of a dash of realism. Rob doesn’t win his girlfriend back by interrupting her wedding or reciting a poem or (say) holding up a boombox on her lawn. It just kind of happens. And even after the plot is wrapped up we get fifteen more minutes of movie, showing us that Rob has changed a bit and that life just kind of continues. It’s disarming because it’s how shit really works.

2. Rob – Rob is a fucking asshole.

Hey, your words...

He whines about his life constantly, he takes his friends and lovers for granted, he blithely ignores the wants and needs of others as he tries to figure out why the world has it in for him. And yet, through the events of the movie, his romantic reflections and the help of his friends, Rob blossoms into… less of an asshole.

I simply love that, by the end of this movie, Rob hasn’t shed all of his character flaws, but instead has realized how to begin to work toward improving himself. He doesn’t come out the other side as Tom Hanks, but he does finally takes responsibility for his actions and his mistakes, working to grow up a bit. None of us have ever had an epiphany that’s changed us into The Perfect Man, but we have all had wake-up calls that let us know that it’s time to take stock and make some changes. This is where Rob winds up, and because we can identify with him we leave the movie feeling hopeful rather than pandered to.

1. The Boss -