The 4-1-1: Stars: John Cusack, Iben Hjejle (no...that's not a typo), and Jack Black; Director: Stephan Fears; Rating: R; Total running time: 113 minutes.
The Venue: Rented it from Blockbuster Video - watched it on the couch with my beautiful wife.
The Preface: I'll admit from the get-go that I've never been much of a John Cusack fan. He seems to have a monopoly on the down-on-my-luck-in-the-romance-department-close-to-brooding-lonely-guy-who's-really-very-sensitive-and-just-wants-to-make-someone-happy kind of character. Then again, I suppose if you're good at something, there's no need to delve into areas that might not work out so well (Ever seen Keanu Reeves in "Much Ado About Nothing"? Yikes!). Anyhow - this is one of Laura's favorite films - so I wanted to check it out, too.
The Trailers: Unknown
The Film: Like I said - never been a fan of John Cusack, but I've never considered membership in the "I hate John Cusack" society, either. That said, the opening lines of the movie were a bit of a bad omen. John Cusack's character says, "What came first, the music or the misery? Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?"
Okay - only fourteen seconds into the movie and I'm already annoyed at the main character. In the quite recesses of my mind I'm yelling, "You're probably miserable because of choices you made, you thick fuck!" Anyhow, I digress.
The movie details the life of Rob Gordon (Cusack) and the highs and lows of his love life in urban Chicago. He owns a record store and employs two lovable, if dimwitted, guys who provide a comic background to the film. Now - if you were asked to name the most type-casted individual who fits the "lovable if dimwitted" mold - who would it be? Five seconds to answer. Four.... three....two...one... time's up! Answer: Jack Black. He's good in the role and does the shtick of the loud, semi-obnoxious, and often overbearing music snob, Barry, quite well - but I think a better job was done by Todd Louiso, who plays Dick (I didn't name him): the more quiet character and introspective of the two. I somehow got a sense that Rob had a greater connection with him than with Barry.
Ultimately, the movie is about Rob's relationship with Laura (Hjejle), his ex-girlfriend who breaks up with him at the beginning of the film. Rob frequently breaks the fourth wall and talks to the viewer about his thoughts, usually in a Top Five format, including "Top Five Most Memorable Breakups" in which he details the five women who most broke his heart. He decides, eventually, to contact each one of them (great cameo by Catherine Zeta-Jones) and asks why they really broke up, why he's never been able to find true happiness, and eventually, to better understand himself.
Throughout this process he come to an awareness about himself, what he really wants out of life, and what he needs to do to find happiness. I'll confess that I felt a certain smug sense of self satisfaction when he began to realize that it's his own decisions that have (mostly) brought him to where he is in life. However, my smugness wore off quickly and I actually developed some empathy for Rob as he was frequently brutally honest with himself about whose fault certain events were and why he did much of what he did.
Okay - only fourteen seconds into the movie and I'm already annoyed at the main character. In the quite recesses of my mind I'm yelling, "You're probably miserable because of choices you made, you thick fuck!" Anyhow, I digress.
The movie details the life of Rob Gordon (Cusack) and the highs and lows of his love life in urban Chicago. He owns a record store and employs two lovable, if dimwitted, guys who provide a comic background to the film. Now - if you were asked to name the most type-casted individual who fits the "lovable if dimwitted" mold - who would it be? Five seconds to answer. Four.... three....two...one... time's up! Answer: Jack Black. He's good in the role and does the shtick of the loud, semi-obnoxious, and often overbearing music snob, Barry, quite well - but I think a better job was done by Todd Louiso, who plays Dick (I didn't name him): the more quiet character and introspective of the two. I somehow got a sense that Rob had a greater connection with him than with Barry.
Ultimately, the movie is about Rob's relationship with Laura (Hjejle), his ex-girlfriend who breaks up with him at the beginning of the film. Rob frequently breaks the fourth wall and talks to the viewer about his thoughts, usually in a Top Five format, including "Top Five Most Memorable Breakups" in which he details the five women who most broke his heart. He decides, eventually, to contact each one of them (great cameo by Catherine Zeta-Jones) and asks why they really broke up, why he's never been able to find true happiness, and eventually, to better understand himself.
Throughout this process he come to an awareness about himself, what he really wants out of life, and what he needs to do to find happiness. I'll confess that I felt a certain smug sense of self satisfaction when he began to realize that it's his own decisions that have (mostly) brought him to where he is in life. However, my smugness wore off quickly and I actually developed some empathy for Rob as he was frequently brutally honest with himself about whose fault certain events were and why he did much of what he did.
The movie continuously drops music references left and right, and for those who identify with the Barry and Dick characters in the movie, they'll probably enjoy these moments and will have many post-movie breakout discussions about the merits of some obscure 80's band that was "under-appreciated for their musical genius." To them I say, "knock yourselves out," as most of these references went right over my head.
Overall, I really enjoyed the movie, but am tempted to say that I might have enjoyed it a bit more had John Cusack's character not been so whiny and needy. But, then I think: that was the point. Although it was done nearly flawlessly in "Sideways," this movie does a capable job of presenting a flawed protagonist whom, despite his flaws, you still want to get the girl at the end.
Overall, I really enjoyed the movie, but am tempted to say that I might have enjoyed it a bit more had John Cusack's character not been so whiny and needy. But, then I think: that was the point. Although it was done nearly flawlessly in "Sideways," this movie does a capable job of presenting a flawed protagonist whom, despite his flaws, you still want to get the girl at the end.
