'High Fidelity' makes top five of the year

Give Adam Sandler a brain and the result is John Cusack. His movies are funnier than Sandler's and the comedy actually requires some thought.

Cusack's latest movie, "High Fidelity," ranks as one of the best music movies of all time along with Bob Dylan's "Don't Look Back" and the Sex Pistols' "The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle."

But instead of coming from the performer's point of view, "High Fidelity" is taken from the point of view of the fans. In this case, it's from the perspective of walking encyclopedias of music Rob Gordon (Cusack) and his friends Dick (Todd Louiso) and Barry (Jack Black).

Rob owns Championship Vinyl, a record store in Chicago. Dick and Barry are his coworkers and the instigators of daily music quarrels.

Customers come and go, most of the time going empty-handed because they were refused service. According to Barry, some fans are not worthy to purchase some of the titles they are requesting.

The movie's real plot revolves around Rob's recent breakup with his girlfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle) and his subsequent quest to find out what has gone wrong in his love life.

He does so by reviewing his top five breakups of all time, one of the many top five lists in the film, and by visiting  former girlfriends to find out why the breakups occurred.

But true music fans will notice that the romance is just a thread holding together a movie that is a masterpiece of music.

From Rob's record collection reorganization to Barry's fresh dance moves to Katrina and the Waves' "Walking on Sunshine" and his smooth rendition of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get it On," it's a gold mine for music lovers.

Music lovers or not, "High Fidelity" will fit into anyone's top five movies of 2000.