Ray Pawulich

The following post was written by Ray Pawulich. Ray currently lives in Indianapolis. He went to film school for a couple years, so he thinks he knows what he’s talking about. Here’s part two of his series on Summer Nights here at the IMA.

Every so often, someone tells me I remind them of John Cusack. When this comes from strangers, it’s kind of flattering. But when it comes from your own mother, it can be a little disturbing.

Such was the case in the spring of 2000 when my mother called to let me know she’d seen a movie called High Fidelity and insisted I’d enjoy it too. According to her, Cusack’s character in the film, Rob Gordon, was “just like” me.

On the surface, this was not a very complimentary observation. After all, Rob Gordon is no Lloyd Dobler, the tried-and-true romantic Cusack played in Say Anything. Nor is Rob as cool as Martin Blank, Cusack’s detached-yet-vulnerable hitman from Gross Pointe Blank. Instead, he’s neurotic, jealous, self-defeating, co-dependent and completely incapable of committing to anything. (Thanks mom.)

Image courtesy of PHOTOFEST

Luckily for my fragile ego, High Fidelity, as directed by Stephen Frears, is sympathetic to Rob’s plight. While the film is not afraid to show Rob as unlikeable, it’s also willing to give him the occasional victory, including the ultimate one (spoiler altert: he gets his act together). But perhaps most endearingly, High Fidelity holds up Rob’s passion for pop music (and its ability to shape his reality) as something totally understandable… and maybe even a little bit cool.

In so doing, Frears and company manage to faithfully capture the spirit of Nick Hornby’s original novel — and raise some interesting questions. What does it mean to deeply identify with the film adaptation of a book about a guy who can’t decide if pop music has made him miserable or if he listens to pop music because he’s already miserable? Is life best understood in reference to our favorite movies, books and songs?

For the Rob Gordons of the world, the answer seems to be yes. And maybe that’s not such a bad thing. After all, isn’t the purpose of all art to help us make sense of the human experience?

Of course, that might be overstating the case. High Fidelity works not because it taps into something primal about the human condition but because it’s, you know, entertaining. Between Jack Black’s breakout performance, a killer soundtrack, and endlessly smart dialogue, it’s got quite enough to appeal to less navel-gazing cineastes.

And yet for those of us who see a bit of ourselves reflected in Rob Gordan, High Fidelity is more than the sum of its parts. That’s why nearly a decade after its release, it remains on many All Time Top Five lists — including mine. So, really… thanks mom. You were right.

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‘High Fidelity’ is playing at the IMA this Friday, August 28 as part of the Summer Nights film series.

Ray Pawulich

The following post was written by Ray Pawulich. Ray currently lives in Indianapolis. He went to film school for a couple years, so he thinks he knows what he’s talking about. Here’s part one of his series on Summer Nights here at the IMA.

Growing up in a relatively insulated Indianapolis suburb, many of the defining experiences of my youth were lived vicariously though film characters who came of age in the 1970s. The fact that early 90s suburban kids like myself were hungry for this kind of entertainment was not lost on the filmmakers of the day; for awhile there, it seemed all you had to do to get your movie on video store shelves was to pack it with drug references and give it a retro soundtrack. And while some of these films have endearing qualities (The Stoned Age remains a personal favorite), none can match the subtlety or artistry of Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused.

It might seem pretentious to use the word ‘artistry’ to describe any movie that features Parker Posey hazing barely pubescent girls, but Linklater’s unique ability to make an almost plotless story resonate with meaning is on full display in Dazed. The film follows one day (and night) in the life of Mitch Kramer, a somewhat geeky incoming high school freshman. During the 24 hours we follow him, Mitch is introduced to a world of drinking, drugs, and girls and he learns … well, he learns nothing, except that those things are more appealing to him than listening to his mother. Yet Linklater’s observant style and realistically-drawn characters give the film a profundity lacking in, say, That 70s Show.

Indeed, despite a few dramatic contrivances, Dazed still feels like a genuine slice of life. Perhaps it’s a credit to the movie that Linklater was sued by some his high school friends over similarities between themselves and characters from the film. After all, when Matthew McConaughey’s David Wooderson declares that he loves high school girls because even as he ages, they stay the same age, you can’t help but think of someone you knew with the same attitude.

Sixteen years after its release, Dazed remains one of the finest filmic tributes to the promise of a hazy summer of fun. As our own summer winds down, the opportunity to take it in under the stars at the IMA promises to be less hazy but no less fun.

Image courtesy of Universal Pictures/Photofest © Universal Pictures.