Book vs. Movie: High Fidelity

I watched High Fidelity years ago. But, since I just read the book, I wanted to watch the movie again. As a movie, its pretty good. The characters are intriguing, the plot is interesting, and the movie moves quickly. I think as a movie inspired by a book, it’s one of the better ones that I’ve seen. The movie stays true to the book. There are also so many lines taken verbatim from the book, which I appreciated.  

One reason that books are usually better than the movie, is because there is so much more information in the books. The author can tell the reader what is going on in the character’s mind, revealing his deepest thoughts. This inner monologue usually doesn’t translate on screen. However, in High Fidelity, John Cusack, who plays the main character, Rob, breaks the fourth wall and reveals his thoughts directly to the audience. I think that it works well, and I enjoyed this way of storytelling. Though I’m also glad that not every movie does it. I think that part of the reason it works well in this film is because it is such an uncommon technique.  Because the majority of the book is told through Rob’s thoughts, as opposed to his actions and conversations, a movie that didn’t reveal his ideas and feelings would not have worked.

There are a few changes made from book to screen. Rob has still been dumped by Laura and is the owner of Championship Vinyl. Though, instead of the story taking place in London, it takes place in Chicago. Rob still meets the talented American singer, Marie DeSalle (played by Lisa Bonet), though there are fewer interactions between them in the movie than in the film. A pivotal scene from the book, Rob’s birthday, is missing from the movie. In the book, Rob’s inability to gather a group of friends together to celebrate his birthday and his impromptu “surprise” party emphasizes his understanding that his life has been changing and maybe he needs to start changing along with it. While this scene was missing from the movie, I don’t think that it hindered the overall theme of the story. Nothing that was changed or left out took away from the original story. I also appreciated that there weren’t extra, unnecessary scenes added to the movie, the way some movies adapted from books will do.

Overall, I would say that this was a good movie, and a good book-turned-movie. If you enjoyed the book, you would also enjoy this movie.