So it’s time for my first double review or double feature cult movie review or what have you. ANYWHO why did I choose these two specifically for my first double feature review?
Honestly it’s because while not only do I consider these two exceptional comedic drama movies but they’ve also really inspired and influenced me and made me the cinematic buffoon I am today and I consider both of them the bible/autobiography of the 20 something male in terms of what males of the protagonists ages (although John Cusack older then his 20’s) are going through on a personal level.
Clerks of course centers around two underachieving lazy clerks one at a convenience store and the other at a VHS store. Like Clerks High Fidelity’s characters are underachievers pondering their position in their lives while at the same time seem fairly set in their pop culture ridden world of working at a record store (which as a fellow vinyl collector I can very much relate to).
I think both spoke to me on a very personal and primal level about manhood and coming of age without having some sort of cinematic MacGuffin to get me to do so rather a sense of sort of self propulsion of seeing where I am in life and where I want to be and going from there. I LOVE being lazy and unmotivated I LOVE it but these movies helped me to see my inner potential especially the story behind Clerks of a lazy bastard like myself becoming an exceptional film maker with just a dream and a passion.
However in High Fidelity’s case I also greatly relate to the characters in terms of failures and inability to accept responsibility for my screw ups in relationships that I’ve misguidedly messed up helping me to realize that I I was the one who screwed up. Also on a more aesthetic level I envy the hell out of the writing on both of them and the soundtracks are spectacular so I couldn’t recommend either of them higher.