Director: Terry Zwigoff
Cast: Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Brad Renfro, Illeana Douglas
Have I Seen It Before: In nearly 1,100 reviews, I’ve expressed some degree of uncertainty as to whether or not I’ve seen some films before. Half-remembered cable viewings in the 90s. Endless series that become more forgettable the more patience you have for them. The stray movie you have the clearest of memories seeing in the past, and the movie you watch now is completely different than what you remembered.
This one is a little different. I’ve never been less sure I’ve seen a movie before. I remember so clearly being told by someone so many times around 2005 that I absolutely had to sit down and watch the movie. I probably would have relented, but I’m not entirely sure I did. It’s entirely possible that I just refused to watch any film that I hadn’t already come to under my own power.
Golly, knowing me in the mid-2000s must have been something of a chore.
Did I Like It: Am I the only person that views this as something of a spiritual sequel to High Fidelity (2000)*? You look at the semi-happy ending of that earlier work for Rob Gordon feels like it could never stick. He might be more able to be interest in the happiness of his partners, but is he really changed? Add another fifteen years to this guy’s life, is he not more like Seymour (Steve Buscemi) here? The store is gone, but he is still peddling 78s out of his garage, and he’s making every unhealthy decision about his love life for which he could reach?
Maybe if the film had been pitched to me like that all those years ago, I’d be a little more certain.
*Despite being completely unrelated.