Movie Review by Nigel A. Messenger
Starring: John Cusack, Jack Black, Iben Hjejle, Catherine Zeta-Jones
Director: Stephen Frears
A truly excellent movie about a music buff Rob Gordon (John Cusack) whose world revolves around the details and trivia of popular music to such an extent that he is unable to develop permanent relationships in his love life.
While he runs a specialist music store ‘Championship Vinyl’ in Chicago with two fellow music trivia obsessing employees, Dick (Todd Louiso) and Barry (Jack Black), he analyses a string of top 5 ill-fated relationships he has failed in, to the extent of contacting ex-girlfriends to find out why he was invariably ‘dumped’.
Throughout the movie though he constantly trying to salvage his latest break-up with Laura (Iben Hjejle) who he realises is his true love and hopes that through his self analyses he will be able to win her back.
Rob Gordon reaches the audience by talking directly to camera throughout the movie, a cinematic tool that can be disastrous in the wrong hands, but here it really works to the degree the viewer feels totally involved in this life.
There are some hilarious moments as well as excellent portrayals of the key characters, especially the vastly different personal types of the 3 music buffs whose passion for music binds them together and produces some great ‘top five’ trivia lists.
Although I haven’t read the book by Nick Hornby that the movie in based on I’m told that it translates well to screen so no-one will be disappointed.
