Production began in Chicago. While the novel is set in London, the writing team quickly realized that the honesty in the themes and characters was the critical element--not the location. "We talked to Nick Hornby," explains Cusack, "and he said, my book’s about a lot more than geographics."
Like the north of London, Chicago is a diversified working class town. It has a vibrant music scene and a wealth of small clubs and bars. "Almost every scene is a smoky bar or smoky restaurant," says Steve Pink. "Unlike Los Angeles, where everything seems to go on in an outdoor patio setting, in Chicago people are meeting in old brick storefronts that have been converted into eateries and bars." He further explains, "Chicago is a town very similar in feel to the original setting. It seemed natural to set the action here because we know it so well. We could give it the authenticity it needs in terms of place."
Cusack concurs. "I related absolutely 100 percent to the book. I knew all the people and places. They just didn’t have the cockney accents. So it was a real easy transposition ... and we had Nick’s blessing."
Director Stephen Frears also sensed very quickly that this added up to the right backdrop for the story. "The writers have worked with a strong sense of their own upbringing and their own background and very detailed knowledge of Chicago," he explains. "It’s written absolutely from the inside."
But for Frears, there’s another important reason for the change of setting--his leading actor John Cusack. "When the idea of John being in it arose, they started setting it in Chicago. For me, the idea of John playing the character of Rob is so enjoyable and so appropriate. His being in the film makes it come to life in some extraordinary way."
Cusack and Frears first worked together in 1990 on "The Grifters." "I’ve known him since then and stayed in contact with him," says Cusack, "and he’s become a friend. We sent him the script thinking, of course, he’d turn us down, but he said he wanted to do it. It’s not often you get to work with directors of that caliber."
About Cusack in the role of Rob, Frears says, "My sense is that he’d been wanting to do something like this; been wanting to let it all rip for a few years. He’s such a wonderful actor and he so understands this world of his character. I can’t tell you where the actor begins and John takes over."
The character of Rob might best be described as a complicated Everyman. "The thing that makes Rob such a redeemable character," says Cusack, "is that he’s honest about stuff that a lot of people aren’t honest about and that takes a certain kind of courage. He does some questionable things but if we were honest, most men have done a lot of those things."
With the lead character set, casting Rob’s sidekicks was the next challenge. Like Rob, both Dick and Barry have an encyclopedic knowledge of pop music but that’s where the similarity ends. Dick is a quiet, introverted fanatic while Barry is the frenetic, excessive type. Dick is content to be the world’s most devoted fan, but Barry has aspirations to be in a band. They’re an unlikely duo with unshakable, often divergent opinions. "The musical moron twins," as Rob calls them. When they’re not waiting on the occasional customer, or chasing shoplifting skatepunks out the door, they’re engaged in very spirited arguments about each other’s musical tastes. "I guess you’re casting Laurel and Hardy really," suggests Frears. "I suppose that’s what makes those combinations work. They’re opposites."
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