Zoë Kravitz scours the wreckage of her love life in this trailer for Hulu's High Fidelity series
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It’s okay to be skeptical of Hulu’s riff on High Fidelity, the 1995 Nick Hornby novel that became the beloved 2000 film starring John Cusack. The first full trailer for the series apes some of the original film’s best scenes, and reveals that Zoë Kravitz’s lead is still named Rob.
But it’s also clear that the series has its own aesthetic, airier and more amiable. And shifting the location from a hip Chicago neighborhood to the gentrifying Crown Heights corner of Brooklyn should allow for some deft satire, especially considering record stores, vinyl, and cassettes hold a much different place in culture now than they did 20 years ago. Besides, the concept of unpacking a relationship through pop culture is universal; failed romantic relationships will forever be compartmentalized by the music, movies, and books you shared. Also, Natasha Lyonne directed an episode. This could be good!
Kravitz, whose mother, Lisa Bonet, co-starred alongside Cusack in the original, is an executive producer in addition to leading the cast. She’ll star with Dolemite Is My Name’s Da’Vine Joy Randolph, David H. Holmes, Jake Lacy, and Kingsley Ben-Adir.
High Fidelity premieres on Hulu on Valentine’s Day.
29 Comments
Blah blah blah! GIVE IT TO MEEEEEEEE!!!! NOW!!
And shifting the location from a hip Chicago neighborhood to the gentrifying Crown Heights corner of Brooklyn should allow for some deft satirePicking Bowie’s Modern Love to soundtrack the trailer is a… whiter?.. choice than I’d have expected.
In a complete racial flip, all the characters in this new show will be improbably obsessed with the work of Huey Lewis. Basically they’ll keep making the same kind of hip music nerd lists, but then all agree without argument that Huey Lewis deserves to be on top of all of them. Oh, except every list will end with Da’Vine Joy Randolph saying “But what about Elvis Costello?” and all the other characters saying “We talked about this, no more Costello!”
and then, avocado toasts at Dorsia!
The movie took a lot of liberties with an even better and more beloved (especially overseas) novel.
The source material has such good bones and the show creators are so good on this that I have a lot of confidence in the end result.
I thought every woman in the movie was miscast.
Best of luck to Da’Vine trying to fill Jack Black’s shoes.
Black’s shtick was great for the movie, but it’d get exhausting in a series. Looks like Da’Vine’s version of the character doesn’t lean into being relentlessly obnoxious 24/7, which is a much better choice for the project.
This doesn’t look half bad.
I can’t believe the novel is now 25 years old and the movie is 20. I enjoyed both when I was a teenager and young 20’s man. I wonder if they would hold up today.
“I wonder if they would hold up today.”In my opinion it absolutely does, BUT when I was younger I thought Rob was cool and hip, and seeing him now in my 40’s he comes off as self-centered insufferable trash for most of the film. I don’t consider that as ‘not holding up’ because I think gradual self-awareness was supposed to be part of his character arc.
The process of growing up is identifying with Rob when you’re younger, then realizing he is a shitbag as you age. Still a great film, though.
Totally. I loved this movie when I was 16. Saw it again for the first time since and it’s still great, but man did I not realize back then how deliberately douchey they make Cusack’s character out to be.
Yeah, this looked surprisingly ok.
I feel like Zoe Kravitz never gets to play an actual real type of person or maybe is, but as a side character. This looks fun.
When the trailer popped up, my first thought was “Oh cool, a sequel-series starring Zoe Kravitz! Let me guess, the story follows the unexpected love child of Cusack and Lisa Bonet’s characters, the daughter of a washed-up rocker who has both inherited the record store AND her father’s quirky, hyper-focused take on music and dating. That’s a cool idea.”Nope, just a straight-up remake (almost shot for shot, apparently) of High Fidelty with Kravitz. Oh well.
Your idea is good. But I could see it creating practical difficulties that might be unsurmountable. As it is, the trailer looked decent.
I thought maybe they’d retell the story but from Bonet’s character’s perspective, but your idea would might actually work. It would require some cameos though.
Why? Why? Why? Why?The movie was perfect. Why bother doing this again?
So, the premise is that some dude dumped Zoe Kravitz?Yeah, that’s a tough premise to sell.
Well she’s obsessive and too in touch with her feelings…
To be fair, I never would have dumped John Cusack either.Well, circa 2000 Cusack at least.
High Fidelity premieres on Hulu on Valentine’s Day.What? That seems like an awkward release date. “Honey, instead of going out for a romantic dinner, lets stay home and binge watch a series about all the ways people screw up relationships and whether we’re doomed to be alone. What could go wrong?”(I mean, I love the book and movie and all that and might watch this series eventually because of it, but Valentine’s Day does not seem like the day to do it)
Awww, I liked the original. High Fidelity was unique because it took a chick flick formula and applied it to a male buddy comedy. You remove the guys and all you get it a literal chick flick.
Is that a problem for you?
Only if it’s boring!
What would be the modern equivalent of the scene where the clueless dad comes in asking for “I Just Called to Say I Love You”? They won’t sell Taylor Swift on vinyl? Maybe one of them has an irrational hatred of cassette tapes and will only sell vinyl and 8-tracks? Or maybe a deluded hipster comes in asking for them to load songs onto their Zune?
Just please, for the love of god, no adult-contempo unplugged renditions of “Baby, I Love Your Way.” Or any kind of renditions, actually.
Yeah… sorry. I found a lot of charm in the movie that I’m doubtful can be translated into a TV series.Not to mention, Jack Black stole the spotlight in the damn movie and cannot be reimagined. At all. So good luck.