For a movie adapted from a novel set in North London, High Fidelity sure feels Chicago born-and-bred. John Cusack nabbed the rights to Nick Hornby’s book and transferred the story, about a commitment-shy record-store owner coping with a breakup by revisiting his Top Five previous relationships, to his hometown. The movie was shot on location in the city in 1999, with featured venues including the Green Mill and Double Door (R.I.P.); the record shop, Championship Vinyl, was set up in a real storefront on Milwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park (it’s now home to high-end biking gear shop Rapha Cycling Club).
Nearly two decades after the movie’s release, Cusack is set to host a hometown screening at the Chicago Theatre on Friday, May 4, followed by an audience Q&A session. If you have burning questions about the making of High Fidelity—or anything else on Cusack’s résumé, from Say Anything… to Hot Tub Time Machine—now’s your chance. And if you’ve never seen High Fidelity, you'll get to find out why it earned the No. 1 spot on our list of the 50 best Chicago movies. Tickets ($42.50–$72.50) go on sale Friday, March 16 at 10am via Ticketmaster.