High Fidelity

Old stuff....with a foonote or two.

Due to long hours at work, and--this week--the flu, I've not had the energy to do much more than read lately. I've made a dent in 'the stack' which is books I have bought but not read, but 'the list' (books I haven't yet bought) continues to grow. In any case, I finally read 'High Fidelity', by Nick Hornby. This is one of my favorite movies, and reading the book only deepens my appreciation. The book, however, is based in London, while the movie is based in Chicago, among other, more subtle, differences. I was surprised though, at how closely the movie's dialogue matched the book's, even it there was some heavy cut-and-paste with some of it. If you've only read the book, or only seen the movie, I highly recommend you do the other. It makes you appreciate the people who made both.

And now, just because I want to...(this is mostly for my brother, who I think might be the only person in the universe who appreciates the genius of High Fidelity as much as I do*)...the TOP 5 book-to-movie dialogue edits in the film.

1a) Book: Rob (as Narrator): "Marie is pretty, in that nearly cross-eyed American way--she looks like a slightly plumper, post Partridge Family, pre-LA Law Susan Dey--and if you were going to develop a spontaneous and pointless crush on somebody, you could do a lot worse.
1b) Movie: Dick (to Rob): "Marie de Salle's playing. You remember I told you about her. I like her. She's kind of Sheryl Crow-ish crossed with a post-Partridge Family pre-L.A. Law Susan Dey kind of thing, but...you know, uh, black." [and played by Lisa Bonet, who you know as Denise from the Cosby Show]

2a) Book: Barry (to customer): "Because it's sentimental, tacky crap, that's why not. Do we look like the sort of shop that sells f*cking 'I Just Called to Say I Love You;, eh? Now, be off with you, and don't waste our time."
2b) Movie: Barry (to customer): "Well, it's sentimental tacky crap. Do we look like the kind of store that sells I Just Called to Say I Love You? Go to the mall."

3a) Book: Barry (on stage): "We're not called Sonic Death Monkey anymore. We might be on the verge of becoming The Futuristics, but we haven't decided yet. Tonight, though, we're Backbeat. One, Two, Three...WELL SHAKE IT UP BABY..." [Performs 'Twist and Shout']
3b) Movie: Barry (on stage): "We're no longer called Sonic Death Monkey. We're on the verge of becoming Kathleen Turner Overdrive, but just for tonight, we are Barry Jive and his Uptown Five." [Performs 'Let's Get It On']

4a) Book: Rob: "What am I? Average. A middleweight. Not the brightest bloke in the world, but certainly not the dimmest: I have read books like The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Love in the Time of Cholera, and understood them, I think (they were about girls, right?), but I don't like them very much; my all-time top five favorite books are The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler, Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, Sweet Soul Music by Peter Guralnick, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, and, I don't know, something by William Gibson, or Kurt Vonnegut."
4b) Movie: Rob: "Hey, I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I'm certainly not the dumbest. I mean, I've read books like The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Love in the Time of Cholera, and I think I've understood them. They're about girls, right? Just kidding. But I have to say my all-time favorite book is Johnny Cash's autobiography "Cash" by Johnny Cash."**

5a) Book: Rob: "A good compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do. You've got to kick off with a corker, to hold the attention...and then you've got to up it a notch, or cool it a notch, and you can't have white music and black music together, unless the white music sounds like black music, and you can't have two tracks by the same artist side by side, unless you've done the whole thing in pairs, and....oh, there are loads of rules." [This comes on page 89 of the book, but is used in the closing lines of the movie, coupled with THE closing line from the book.]
5b) Movie: Rob: "The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don't wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules. Anyway... I've started to make a tape... in my head... for Laura. Full of stuff she likes. Full of stuff that makes her happy. For the first time I can sort of see how that is done."

* I'm now dating a girl named Laura, (I know, right?!) who also sees this movie for what it is: the Greatest Story Ever Told.
** I never noticed until now that the movie version of Rob passes on the chance to list his top 5 BOOKS, as he does in the book. What are you trying to tell us John Cusack?! What metaphysical truths lie in the Cash Autobiography?!