Last Updated on July 30, 2021
Plot: A female record store owner revisits past relationships through music and pop culture while trying to get over her one true love.
Review: HIGH FIDELITY is a film that has quite a fan following in the twenty years since it's release. Starring John Cusack, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Jack Black, the adaptation of Nick Hornsby's novel often populates lists ranking the best movies set in Chicago, best romantic comedies, and best movies about music. So, rebooting it as a television series was going to be met with some resistance, especially when it is a gender-swapped reimagining which tend to put audiences on the defensive right off the bat. Hulu's High Fidelity, starring Zoe Kravitz in the lead, is a worthy successor to the 2000 movie as well as a nice ode to music and the resurgence of vinyl record collecting. It also doesn't hurt that it has a lot of great music, new and old, to compliment that theme of the series.
Like the original, this High Fidelity focuses on a record store owner named Rob (short for Robin), played by Kravitz. The series opens with a break-up and Rob reflecting on her Top 5 Hearbreaks, setting the tone for the series to do exactly what the film and source novel did. Employing frequent fourth wall breaks, Rob uses music as a coping strategy as she tries to determine what about her constantly leads to romantic failure and the ensuing depressive fallout. Where John Cusack's Rob had a Top 5 populated by girls from his live, Kravitz's Rob has a list that includes both genders as well as her most recent boyfriend, Mac (Kingsley Ben-Adir). The setting is also switched from Chicago to New York and the entire series feels transported to 2020 even though the soundtrack still runs the gamut from oldies to contemporary bands.
On her quest to reconnect with each of her Top 5, Rob is accompanied by her friends, fellow employees at Championship Vinyl. Where the feature film had the shy Dick (Todd Louiso) and the very outspoken Barry (Jack Black), this new version takes some liberties with Rob's friends. Instead of Dick, we now have Simon (David Holmes), Rob's ex-boyfriend, as well as Cherise (Da'Vine Joy Randolph) replacing Barry. Randolph, coming off a great turn in DOLEMITE IS MY NAME, is up to the task of replacing Jack Black by making Cherise a larger than life wannabe musician with very strong opinions about music and life. Both Simon and Cherise are much larger roles in this take on the story than in the film and it gives Rob some unique voices to bounce things off of, whether it be music or her desire to reconnect with each of her former partners.
The biggest difference in switching Rob from a male to a female character is in the way they process their emotions. John Cusack presented a much angrier character who viewed music as sacred and something that was vital to informing his relationships with his romantic partners. Zoe Kravitz's take is still one intrinsically connected to the music she loves but her emotional response to her break-ups is much different. The paths both characters take lead in the same direction, but this new Rob does so with a lot more time on her hands. Since this series is spread over ten episodes rather than the two hours the film version had, we get to dive deeper into Rob's prior relationships and how they affected her (as much as how she affected them). This also includes new relationships that she encounters as the series progresses.
One of the elements that made HIGH FIDELITY so distinct was the use of John Cusack speaking directly to the audience. Bringing the viewer into his story added an intimacy that is certainly present in the small screen series. Zoe Kravitz certainly has a charisma and when she speaks to the camera, it never feels fake, but it also doesn't feel quite as unique as it did twenty years ago. With Phoebe Waller-Bridge's brilliant Fleabag taking fourth wall-breaks to another level, High Fidelity ends up feeling a bit quaint. Still, there are some tricks up the sleeves of series creators Veronica West and Sarah Kucserka that I won't spoil here but will absolutely make music fans smile.
Presented in half hour chapters, High Fidelity has moments of greatness where the music store setting is used to showcase the different personalities that walk in the door and how they clash with the strong perspectives of those who work there. This series has the potential to be a music version of Clerks blended with the romantic elements that made the feature film so good. But, despite great potential, this High Fidelity doesn't quite dive as deep into the meaning of the music it plays as much as it should. Originally set to be on Disney+, the series shifted to Hulu when the focus became a bit more adult in nature. I hope audiences connect enough with Zoe Kravitz's character to allow this show to continue so the writers can go a little bit further below the surface they barely scratch in this first season.
High Fidelity premieres February 14th on Hulu.
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