High Fidelity

High Fidelity (2000) is a British-American comedy-drama you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Stephen Frears and starring John Cusack. Based on Nick Hornby's bestselling novel, the film moves the action from London to Chicago — and loses nothing in translation.

Rob Gordon runs a small, stubbornly analogue record store. When his girlfriend Laura walks out, he does what any obsessive music fan would: compiles a top-five list of his all-time worst break-ups and tracks each woman down for answers. His two employees — quiet, encyclopaedic Dick and loud, opinionated Barry (Jack Black in an early breakout role) — are spectacularly unhelpful. Iben Hjejle plays Laura with enough gravity to make you understand exactly why Rob keeps blowing it.

The film's best trick is Cusack's direct address to the camera. Rob explains his own behaviour in real time, convinced he's being reasonable. He's not, and the audience knows it before he does. With a soundtrack that doubles as a playlist for the romantically confused, High Fidelity holds up as one of the sharper romantic comedies of its era. Stream it in full online on iFILM.