Yes - very similar.

Damn, you got a point. Though I believe High Fidelity is more about the flaws of the guy itself and getting real, while 500 days was about moving on.

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another example: rob thinking of the different ways he wanted to respond to ray being in the record store and the reality/expectations split-screen when tom goes to summer's party.
it also seems like one aspect of "high fidelity" namely, rob wanting to reconnect with all of the women in his top 5 influenced the entire plot of the great "broken flowers" as well.

I love both of these movies, Rob is like an older version of Tom from 500 Days. I think what makes them similar is that they tend to have a selective memories about past relationships and remember only what they want to. It's only when they revisit their ex-girlfriends that they stop viewing the past with rose-tinted glasses.
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I'd say 500 Days of Summer and High Fidelity are on the same level, with each viewer's preference depending on his or her place in life.
For instance, I like High Fidelity a lot, but I prefer 500 Days of Summer. I saw 500 Days when I was about the same age as its lead character, dealing with my own "Summer." Now, if I were about 40 and having relationship problems, I might prefer High Fidelity.
Whatever the case, I wish we could all agree they're both great films.

Completely agree with this topic, I've been saying it for years. Personally I feel High Fidelity holds up better, while I really enjoyed 500 days when it came out I'm pretty much sick of everything related to it at this point. I've actually brought this debate up with friends before and tend to find girls side with 500 days while guys go for High Fidelity. Granted that could just be because my male friends tend to be bigger "film snobs" than the girls but still it's an interesting observation.

Late by 2 years to start this threadxD
I like them equally for different reasons but they're my favorite romance-themed movies.

I never put it together until now (thanks to OP)! 500 Days of Summer was SO derivative of High Fidelity. High Fidelity is the superior film, imho.
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Both of the films obviously take a lot from
Annie Hall
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Wow, this is so funny, I just watched 500 Days of Summer 2 Days ago and finished watching HF just now. I can't say which of these I liked better, since these aren't my type of movies, but they were definitely pretty good.

When you get right down to it most chick-flicks are alike. I find both these films to be miles ahead of most romantic comedies.

Really loved both movies

They are both indie-ish movies, so they have many similarities in technique and "spirit"

I personally have not noticed this but I love both movies.

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I think they're very similar films, loved High Fidelity, enjoyed 500 Days. Interesting comparison, thanks OP.

Both are in my top 5. Others have already mentioned this.
But I really don't see any similarities, other than the main characters are single and love music.
I think Rob and Tom are attracted to similar women, those with good taste in pop culture.

Yeah I saw high fidelity when it was first released and a couple of times since. Ive just recently I've watched 500 days of summer.
Both are great films, the way in which 500 days is shot is kind of clever with the whole chronologically thing and over overall quirkiness. All the way through it I felt a similarity between it and HF, but you are going to find that as they are dealing with almost identical content: relationships and the soreness of break ups.
Either way they're both great films
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I didn't see much parallelism between the two and the male leads are miles apart in terms of personal crises. Even Rob's adolescent character was very different from Tom's.
I'd also picture Rob and Barry poking fun at Tom and his hipster friends for their poor judgment on what "good music" really is, and would call them out as hipsters from the get go.
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The only similarity is that the movies both mention Belle & Sebastian. That's it. High Fidelity is WAAAY superior as a book and film. 500 Days of Summer was annoying.

There were strong similarities, one of the most obvious can be found right in the opening scenes:
High Fidelity (2000): [What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss.] Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?
(500) Days Of Summer (2009): [This is a story of boy meets girl. The boy, Tom Hansen of Margate, New Jersey, grew up believing that he'd never truly be happy until the day he met the one.] This belief stemmed from early exposure to sad British pop music and a total mis-reading of the movie 'The Graduate'.
Although I liked both movies, it's just High Fidelity that moved me: I love the authenticity and how the actors are not trying too much. And the chemistry between John Cusack, Jack Black, Todd Louiso and Joan Cusack.

That's interesting. In reply to the OP, I can definitely draw similarities between the two, but I much prefer High Fidelity to 500 Days of Summer. I like the latter a lot, but I think it's blasphemous that it has a higher rating than High Fidelity.
I suppose Rob does complain a lot, seemingly more than Tom, but to me that makes him more honest. I feel like Tom is way more delusional than Rob, and less willing to acknowledge his own flaws.
It all comes down to preference, I guess. And personal experience. Another poster mentioned that girls seemed to prefer 500 days, while guys preferred HF, which is fascinating. It says so much about each gender's psychology in a relationship. But then you get those individuals who think completely differently to what you expect, and that just makes it even more fascinating. It's like what Rob says - it's not what people are like, but what they like, that matters. Ha.

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