Directed by Stephen Frears (who also directed Dangerous Liaisons, The Snapper, and My Beautiful Launderette), High Fidelity nails to perfection the slacker environment at a used record store. Dick and Barry ("The musical moron twins," as Rob calls them) are a Laurel and Hardy-like duo: Dick is a quiet, introverted fanatic while Barry is frenetic and excessive. But they're inseparable. Three years ago Rob hired them as part-time help, but they just started showing up every day. Todd Louiso and Jack Black (as Dick and Barry, respectively) have created marvelously complex characters. A screenplay can only go so far in creating personalities; Louiso and Black have filled in and rounded out their characters and made them into people so familiar you'll swear you've known people just like them.

And the environment of Championship Vinyl has been meticulously created. The filmmakers searched around the world for the albums, singles, posters, and magazines (many of them rare collector's items) placed on display in the racks and on the walls. This world is slightly run down and worn, but it's filled with color and energy.

Also much in the movie's favor is the delightfully off-kilter approach taken to Rob's love life. He struggles to make sense of his past romances by re-examining each break-up. Why did it happen? Who caused it? Did it happen because of some quality he lacks? Will he ever find true love? Or is he destined to drift through life, unattached and suffering? Rob considers these questions to be of paramount importance, but director Frears cues us to see the absurdity. His camera emphasizes the piles of albums that Rob surrounds himself with. His camera emphasizes the complete lack of awareness on Rob's face as he stands in the rain screaming for Laura. And his camera emphasizes Rob's zonked-out, raccoon-in-headlights expression when Laura's new hippie boyfriend, Ian (Tim Robbins in a very funny performance), walks into Championship Vinyl for a heart-to-heart discussion. "Get your patchouli stink out of my store!" Rob fantasizes shouting before reality kicks back in and finds him standing immobile. Ian smiles, wishes him well, and slips out the door.

At the movie's core, however, is a big void. The character of Laura needs to be someone we can get excited about. But Iben Hjejle plays the character as it's written--or rather as it's underwritten. Whereas Todd Louiso and Jack Black invent a wide range of outlandish mannerisms for their characters, Hjejle allows Laura to become a nondescript little mouse. It's difficult to care whether or not Rob gets back together with her. He needs someone, but is Laura really that person? Maybe not. But the movie's logic forces us to embrace her as Rob's savior. This void created by Laura's lack of presence makes the movie seem repetitive and overlong.

Meanwhile, John Cusack delivers one of the best performances of his career. Following his first-rate performance in Being John Malkovich, his role as Rob Gordon is an amazingly intricate characterization who can be witty and sardonic in one scene and confused and self-centered in the next. Much of the movie's burden falls directly on his face as he delivers monologues into camera: "Why am I doomed to be left? Doomed to be rejected?" Cusack played a much larger role in High Fidelity than just playing the lead role: he also co-wrote the screenplay and served as co-producer. This movie appears to have been a labor of love for Cusack, who loved Nick Hornby's book and jumped at the chance of playing Rob Gordon. While the book was set in London, the movie transfers Championship Vinyl to Chicago, an environment where Cusack looks very at ease. And the movie surrounds him with a bevy of old girlfriends (Joelle Carter, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Lili Taylor), current attractions (Lisa Bonet as a pop/jazz singer who Rob beds while suffering in isolation from Laura), and future beaus (Natasha Gregson Wagner as a young journalist who Rob meets in his record store). In addition, Cusack's sister Joan plays Rob's … you guessed it, sister, a role she's an obvious expert at. Sara Gilbert also lends support as a music lover who grabs Dick's attention.

High Fidelity is one of the best comedies of the past year. But there's an emptiness at its center that keeps the movie from ever completely taking off. It's sort of like listening to a great album on your stereo but one of your speakers tends to crackle during the quiet moments. Still, High Fidelity is filled with energy and excellent performances. It's not a complete success, but if you've ever known people like Rob and Dick and Barry, it should definitely be on your must-see list.