Top Five Reasons to Watch Hulu’s New Series “High Fidelity.”

Attempting to understand the logic of Hollywood is as much a fools errand and attempting to understanding the appeal of Phish.

Attempting to understand the logic of Hollywood is as much a fools errand and attempting to understanding the appeal of Phish.

Photo courtesy of Hulu

So Hulu made the movie High Fidelity with John Cusak into a television series with Zoe Cravitz (the failed Broadway musical is the Lord Voldemort of the acclaimed Nick Hornby book and movie.)

Arguing why there was the need for a High Fidelity television show is dumb. This is Hollywood and there are only two truths in Hollywood, it’s driven by fiction and originality is often shunned.

Without further adieu, the Top Five Reasons to watch (in no order):

1. ZOE KRAVTIZ
   She’s lovely and charming and proving to be an actor of considerable chops. Here, she plays the lead, Rob (short for Robyn).

2. IF YOU LIKED THE BOOK OR THE MOVIE
   People whinged when the book was made into a movie…and the movie had its special charm but was different enough from the book. The same is true here. But to be fair, I’m more than half-way through the series and it’s EXACTLY like the movie…just inverted, more diverse, different city (New York this time — Brooklyn specifically) and if you take all the scenes from the movie and build them out, that’s pretty much the series.

3. IF YOU LIKE MUSIC
   The Music Supervisors on High Fidelity deserves mad respect. Manish Raval, Tom Wolfe and Alison Rosenfeld, from Aperture Music — they’ve worked together on films as varied as the Oscar-winning “Green Book” and TV shows like “Girls” (for which they were Emmy-nominated). The breadth of genres is ASTOUNDING. I may have to watch the series again with a notepad to take notes on the music. My beloved Replacements even make two appearances (so far) — “Rattlesnake” and “Skyway”…and yes The Beta Band makes an appearance, but not in the same way.

4. THE SUPPORTING CAST
   The whole cast is a bit jarring at first if you’re familiar with the movie but if you stick with it, you will cotton to them. it’s going to be fun to see how Cherise (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) — the Jack Black character — brings it all together the way Black did. Clyde (Jake Lacy) is particularly charming and Simon (David H. Holmes) is particularly endearing. That being said, their storylines parrot the movies except Cherise is black and Simon is gay (see diversity comment from earlier).

5. THE SHOW IS NEITHER NEW NOR CLEVER
   That’s not meant as a criticism. The show isn’t necessarily mindless or without teeth either. Here, the formula of the movie works, so why futz with it. Having a character break the fourth wall is nothing new, but since the success of Fleabag, it’s becoming a little more popular. And it’s nice seeing strong women embrace those roles. To be clear, the only elements that Fleabag and High Fidelity share are strong female leads and the breaking of the fourth wall. The writing isn’t as sharp as the book or the movie, but it’s not awful or without its own snark and bite. 
   For example: 
   SIMON: I have to go home and change my shirt.
   CHERISE: To what your other shirt? 
   OR
   ROB: That was like being a woman in a Michael Bay movie.

There are a few LOL moments like that in the show.

From book to movie to television show isn’t an atypical progression for popular stories and I don’t see why High Fidelity should be any different. Some will decry this show as blasphemous…but folks did that with the movie too — those folks eventually got a pair of tweezers and removed the bug from their asses.

A good story is a good story is a good story. Each medium requires different tweaks, like moving the story from London to Chicago to Brooklyn.

The falsehoods of High Fidelity will only ring true for those familiar with what living in New York City truly entails. And like Friends (and so many others) before it, High Fidelity does not even come close to accurately portraying what living there in that part of Brooklyn is like. I’m still waiting for the movie or show that will portray that reality…but until then, I’m happy to suspend reality and enjoy this ride.

If you’ve never read the book or seen the John Cusak, I suspect you’ll enjoy the television show. And if you’ve done either or both of those things, check that chip on your shoulder at the door and enjoy the show for what it is — fun. It won’t be what you want or expect it to be…but it’s a different medium and it shouldn’t be.

And just as a teaser, Parker Posey pops up in an episode as a scene-stealing artist named Noreen. I’d LOVE to see more of that character, she’s perfect…and even in with the few scenes, there is some ridiculously rich texture to grab a hold of.

The REAL test will come if they do a second season. I’m not sure how they will move the characters beyond the structure that the book and the movie created for them. Until then, I’ll enjoy High Fidelity for what it is — a fun television show with a brilliant soundtrack.

ADDENDUM — the show finishes MUCH stronger than I anticipated. It does find its own voice by then end. I’ll be eager to see Season Two.