Cool-cat comedy centered around the owner of a used-records store called Championship Vinyl, his love life past and present, and his two nerdy clerks. The arcane shoptalk will perhaps be of interest to those who can decipher it, but it makes no noticeable effort to engage the outsider. The musical content notwithstanding (including, of course, an oldies-laden soundtrack), this is a ball-and-chain literary film, a garrulous transcription of a first-person confessional novel by Nick Hornby, in which the hero chews our collective ear off in direct address to the camera: "I'd have to say that my all-time favorite book is Cash by Johnny Cash," etc. John Cusack tends to be a bit too conscious of and cozy with the camera even under ordinary circumstances, and here he is like Narcissus in a maze of mirrors. Jack Black and Todd Louiso play the musical nerds as if they want to be sure to be included in any TV-sitcom spinoff. (Each of their characters is allowed to blossom in a manner that prizes crowd reaction over credibility.) The casting of the hero's most recent lover -- the all but unknown and unpronounceable Danish actress, Iben Hjejle, a sort of cross between Patricia Arquette and Mary Stuart Masterson in their respective peroxide modes -- is successful in cutting off any audience expectations. And the performance itself is successful in concealing any foreign origins. Bigger names in smaller parts -- Tim Robbins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Lili Taylor, Lisa Bonet, Natasha Gregson Wagner, Sara Gilbert, Joan Cusack, well cast as the hero's sister, and "The Boss" himself, Bruce Springsteen -- lend the movie the air of the bandwagon. Directed by Stephen Frears. (2000) — Duncan Shepherd
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