I hate when I stumble across a show that I really love and then find out its going nowhere. The story, characters, acting and music were all excellent in this show. I really wanted to know where the characters were going to go and now I'll just have to make that up. Such a shame.
199 Reviews
Better than expected!
sykeschristopher15 February 2020
High Fidelity is one of my all time favorite books and movies. I'm not a fan of rebooting everything, so my expectations were low... the fact that Zoe's Mom was in the movie was the connection that made nge check it out. The story is fantastic and so far the story is a nice take on it. Definitely worth your time... regardless of the reviews from the fragile reviewers who can't handle a woman in a role previously held by man, say. It's not a stretch. It's a different feel. But different isn't always bad.
Great Homage To The Original...
matt-8715415 February 2020
Just finished first 3 episodes and it's definitely better than expected. Not sure I agree with all the negative reviews on here. It's more of an homage to the original vs. a straight remake.
Top 5 Pros/Cons
Pros:
Cons:
The original High Fidelity is one of my top 10 favorite movies of all time, so was hesitant to watch this given all the negative reviews. But I'm glad I did as it's been pleasantly surprising after the first 3 episodes. If you enjoyed the world of the original High Fidelity and watch the series as a homage to it, you'll enjoy it like I have so far.
Top 5 Pros/Cons
Pros:
- Cast is great especially Zoe Kravitz. Makes for a great female version of Rob
- Music is excellent (just like in the original)
- Because this isn't condensed into a 2 hour movie, there's more time to flesh out the different relationships
Cons:
- Not really a negative as Jack Black owned the original role, but the actress playing his role on the series isn't as good
- Does repeat a lot of the same scenes and situations in the original, but not always a negative as they have more time to expand on some of these situations (I.e. Ian / Lily)
The original High Fidelity is one of my top 10 favorite movies of all time, so was hesitant to watch this given all the negative reviews. But I'm glad I did as it's been pleasantly surprising after the first 3 episodes. If you enjoyed the world of the original High Fidelity and watch the series as a homage to it, you'll enjoy it like I have so far.
Sad it was canceled
wendy-0949118 August 2020
This show was very good. Loved the authenticity of Rob and Mac's romance. Simon and Cherice were amazing side kicks. Great soundtrack by Questlove. Would have loved a bit more music talk-Simon's take on disco, for example. Loved the gesture with the guitar at the end. Sad it is not coming back for a second season. Cherice was hysterical and I'm sure there was a lot more in store for them all.
so disappointed that its cancelled
paulinarabcewicz17 September 2020
Writing this review in hopes of helping this show get renewed because it most DEFINITELY did not deserve to be cancelled!! Zoe is flawless, the characters are all incredible, beautiful character development, chemistry, and a fantastic soundtrack of course. give us season 2!!!
Come on, continue
farahtiba21 November 2020
Cancelled too soon
lunalovegood-143662 November 2020
Zoe is just to cool
jeje1231 March 2020
I don't know, Zoe Kravitz is just way to cool to play the basically uncool record store owner in high fidelity. She just carries herself with to much shazam to be able to pull that role off. Maybe if the stylist didn't make her look like the coolest person alive ALL THE TIME, and maybe if her apartment wasn't taken out of an rom com where everyone in new york lives in amazin apartments (and maybe if she like, felt more sad?). It basically feels like a gentrified version of high fidelity, but woke. I like it though, it's feel good and all that. But seriously, ANOTHER remake?! Just stop. STOP. CHERISE is AMAZING tho, why couldn't the show had been about her instead? I want more of her, pretty please.
It works!
marinhotogni28 June 2020
Honestly I don't know where all the bad reviews are coming from. Before watching this series I've watched the movie a few times years before. I knew I had liked it but couldn't remember much.
Now I've watched the series and the movie again afterwards and I dare to say: somehow, in my opinion, the series works better than the movie.
The movie is still great but the series has something to it; I guess it give us more time to sympathize with the characters and the actors chill vibes help with this.
P.s.: I never read the book, so... P.s.2: I rated 10 just to fight a bit all those unfair 1's. Actually I would rate 8.
Great show! Enjoy.
P.s.: I never read the book, so... P.s.2: I rated 10 just to fight a bit all those unfair 1's. Actually I would rate 8.
Great show! Enjoy.
...but I saw the movie first
bookofshadowsinc-115 February 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I won't say that this series sucks, because it doesn't...but I saw the movie first. You cannot top John Cusack nor Jack Black. It would be a refreshing reboot, but literally 90% of the lines are the same as the film. I don't feel like this reboot was really necessary.
One of the cool things is that the lead is Zoe Kravitz, daughter of Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet (Lisa Bonet) played a minor character in the film.
If you're a fan of the original, you will either love it or really hate it.
One of the cool things is that the lead is Zoe Kravitz, daughter of Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet (Lisa Bonet) played a minor character in the film.
If you're a fan of the original, you will either love it or really hate it.
Its ok to make remakes for modern times
tannerokeefe-4767715 February 2020
A very like-able cast, Zoe Kravitz plays her character so well, even if it might just be her in real life. All the negative reviews seem to be hate of people not accepting of remakes. Worth the watch. I liked the inclusion of social media influences sprinkled within it as well.
kinda meh
cherold3 April 2020
I really liked Zoe Kravitz in Big Little Lies. Unfortunately, here she plays a less appealing character in a less appealing series. I suppose it's like the movie, which I barely recall, but I recall liking the movie and the lead better. I do think Da'Vine Joy Randolph is fun in a supporting role, but beyond that I don't feel there's any reason to watch a second episode.
Shallow and trite
Siddhartha148 December 2020
The lead character is not sympathetic - more like pathetic. Cherise is a hoot and steals every scene in which she appears but the show overall is a shallow experience and not worth your time. I literally could not finish watching this.
Why would they cancel it!??
solveigao5 April 2022
I swear, all the good shows are being cancelled. Amazing cinematography, music, outfits. The plot is realistic and relatable. Probably didn't talk Enough about social issues and thats why got cancelled, but believe, people don't want to discuss social issues all the time. That's why this show is amazing to watch. No need to role eyes, just enjoy beautifully talented actors who make amazing story tearing.
I like it a lot
monstablocka28 March 2022
I found the series much better than expected. Zoë is an awesome woman. It's about love and music passion, too bad it wasn't honored. It's unbelievable that the series was cancelled. People just don't have taste these days :(
Gets better with each episode
pdb-7049415 February 2020
Even though I don't like the main character (acted extremely well though - just not likeable) I find the supporting characters are the shows shining lights. They are all fun, interesting, relatable & quirky.
But the main star is of course the vinyl. Good tunes, memories & well, it's vinyl. Love it.
A very cool character driven show...that whilst their decisions will have u throwing stuff at the TV - ultimately it's a fun ride. Cheers beers.
But the main star is of course the vinyl. Good tunes, memories & well, it's vinyl. Love it.
A very cool character driven show...that whilst their decisions will have u throwing stuff at the TV - ultimately it's a fun ride. Cheers beers.
All around incredible.
shaymalloy19 February 2020
One of the best tv shows in 2020
stojkict17 August 2020
Didn't expect much, came away impressed
bball_is_a_god_sport17 February 2020
After finishing it, here are my pros and cons, without really spoiling anything, that you might consider to know whether you might be into the show or not:
Pros:
Cons:
To summarize, I'm very partial towards the movie, and while not perfect, I thought they could have done a LOT WORSE with this adaptation. I went in expecting it to be awful, and was pleasantly surprised.
I'd give it a 7.5/10, and I think it's definitely worth the watch, especially if you are a big fan of music, or romance/anti-romance stories.
Pros:
- Gotta love that they chose Zoe as the main character and kept the original name given to Cusack in the original movie, Rob. First of all, not only did they give the role of a white man to a black actress, but Zoe also happens to be Lisa Bonnet's daughter, and Lisa was in the first movie.
- The acting is great. Zoe's come a long way as an actress, and David Holmes, Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Kingsley Ben-Adir are all great as well in their respective roles. I love Da'Vine as the replacement for Jack Black's role in the original, and while I criticize the lack of diversity for Zoe's love interests in the show (listed in the cons), I applaud them for giving the previously two biggest roles to black women when they were originally held by white men.
- It was to be expected, but the soundtrack is fantastic. The music selection is very eclectic and it's highly doubtful you will not discover something you like from watching the show.
- For the most part, they succeeded in adapting the original movie. It's the same plot, the characters offer a crazy amount of similarities, etc. The TV show just allowed the writers to add more meat around the bones.
- The main character, Rob, is just as unlikeable in the TV show as he (Cusack) was in the movie, and that's perfect.
- A few episodes were focused on storylines that aren't in the movie, and they were absolute gold. I won't spoil, but I thought those were incredibly well written and needed as a statement to make it known that the show is NOT the movie. It is an adaptation, not an exact copy.
- They did well in adapting it to our time, where the casual music fan is different now than they were in 2000, for instance. Times have changed, and so has the portrayal of High Fidelity.
Cons:
- Gotta hate that nearly all of Zoe's love interests in the show are plain white men. Considering that the show takes place in Brooklyn, a more diverse cast of love interests would have been more realistic. Hollywood has a lot of difficulty going all in on diversity sometimes, where if the main character is black, they have to balance it out with an overwhelmingly white supporting cast. It's the case here too for the most part.
- The one thing that they REALLY failed to emphasize in the show compared to the movie is the use of Top 5 Lists. Aside from the Top 5 breakups list, which the story is built around, the characters really don't start making them until the later half of the season. And that's major, because the movie really focuses on the differences between their characters through these top 5 lists. Music having changed a lot in the last 20 years, the writers had an infinite amount of possibilities in making their characters argue about different top 5s. This is something that a LOT of music heads, me included, can relate to. It might seem like nothing, but it sure feels like a crucial element is missing.
- I talked about actors who did well earlier, but Rainbow Francks, who plays Rob's brother, was pretty bad. Multiple scenes would have been better without him.
To summarize, I'm very partial towards the movie, and while not perfect, I thought they could have done a LOT WORSE with this adaptation. I went in expecting it to be awful, and was pleasantly surprised.
I'd give it a 7.5/10, and I think it's definitely worth the watch, especially if you are a big fan of music, or romance/anti-romance stories.
cool chick energy
SnoopyStyle9 November 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Robyn 'Rob' Brooks (Zoë Kravitz) is a twenty something New Yorker. She owns a struggling record shop in Brooklyn. She has an obsessive knowledge of music and most pop culture except for the Sopranos. Cherise and Simon Miller are her opinionated employees. The love of her life is her ex Mac who is moving on with his life. Nice guy Clyde is hopelessly in love with her and she is taken with hot rising music star Liam Shawcross.
There is no doubt that Zoë Kravitz is very charismatic. At its core, this is essentially a single gal sitcom. Rob is a very self-sabotaging character and that gets a bit frustrating. Normal sitcoms could get away with it by making the single gal a little bit clueless especially in love. Zoë Kravitz could never play that. She is dripping with cool chick energy. She can't play dumb. She's a smart character doing dumb things and that's infuriating. It's easy to get into the series once that is established. The show gets better as it goes along. There is a fun character played by Parker Posey and I'm glad that the episode ends with Clyde paying the $20. This is a cool show and by the end of its ten episodes, it gets to a comfortable level but at last, Hulu cancels it after that one season.
There is no doubt that Zoë Kravitz is very charismatic. At its core, this is essentially a single gal sitcom. Rob is a very self-sabotaging character and that gets a bit frustrating. Normal sitcoms could get away with it by making the single gal a little bit clueless especially in love. Zoë Kravitz could never play that. She is dripping with cool chick energy. She can't play dumb. She's a smart character doing dumb things and that's infuriating. It's easy to get into the series once that is established. The show gets better as it goes along. There is a fun character played by Parker Posey and I'm glad that the episode ends with Clyde paying the $20. This is a cool show and by the end of its ten episodes, it gets to a comfortable level but at last, Hulu cancels it after that one season.
It's like the movie only worse
Tactrix21 February 2020
So here's the thing, the movie and this show were obviously written from the same script, I mean it's the same in pretty much every way with one very bad exception. The star power of the supporting cast is no longer there. I actually like the guy who played Simon(david holmes) in this remake. I think he did a better job then the guy who played dick(Todd Louiso) the movie. Where there's a disparity is between the girl who played Chersie (Da'Vine Randolph) and Barry (Jack Black). I mean come on, you're really going to try to recreate the energy of Jack Black? Really?? They tried, and to their credit it was a valiant effort. However you can't copy Jack Black, no one can. And try as you might he makes a good chunk of the movie work, so in that regard the series fell really short.
Now as far as Zoe Kravitz is conserned I think she did a fantastic job, I can't imagine anyone pulling it off better especially considering that she had to follow up on John Cusack which is no easy feat. And bare in mind when he did the original movie he was in his prime, he still had the energy to really put together the really dramatic parts. So overall this is a pretty good adaptation.
The other problem I have with this adaptation is what they were forced to do because of the time period. For example, on the one hand she keeps calling people and picking up corded phone, and on the other hand she's never 2 steps away from her mobile phone. That doesn't actually happen anymore, but even that aside things like making references to artists and bands don't work when 90% of your references aren't going to be familiar to anyone.
There's a very good reason why the movie worked, it was in a time period where it was believable that your main source of communication was a regular phone, and you had to trudge everywhere, there was this sense of wonderment about what was going through your lovers head. Now... not so much. If they keep going down this path of trying to remake classics into modern times they're going to ruin them more than anything. Their attempt to "update" everything about this movie is the most cringeworthy part of it.
Now as far as Zoe Kravitz is conserned I think she did a fantastic job, I can't imagine anyone pulling it off better especially considering that she had to follow up on John Cusack which is no easy feat. And bare in mind when he did the original movie he was in his prime, he still had the energy to really put together the really dramatic parts. So overall this is a pretty good adaptation.
The other problem I have with this adaptation is what they were forced to do because of the time period. For example, on the one hand she keeps calling people and picking up corded phone, and on the other hand she's never 2 steps away from her mobile phone. That doesn't actually happen anymore, but even that aside things like making references to artists and bands don't work when 90% of your references aren't going to be familiar to anyone.
There's a very good reason why the movie worked, it was in a time period where it was believable that your main source of communication was a regular phone, and you had to trudge everywhere, there was this sense of wonderment about what was going through your lovers head. Now... not so much. If they keep going down this path of trying to remake classics into modern times they're going to ruin them more than anything. Their attempt to "update" everything about this movie is the most cringeworthy part of it.
All over the place
melodyso12 August 2020
I came into this not having watched the movie. While the tv show is light hearted and fun at times, it's just all over the place and boring... The whole show revolves around Rob's obsession with her ex lover but didn't have much backstory to back up their strong bonding. They build up all these semi finished storylines and characters without really going deep into any of it so I really wasn't able to connect with them. There is not much character/story development in these 10 episodes. Almost like nothing significant happened at all. I also don't particularly enjoy the music.
I'm glad that this was made.
elvis-1198615 February 2020
I fricking love this. Yep I loved it.
Haven't seen the movie. I watched it because of Zoë Kravitz and ended up loving it. It was great.
The supporting characters were great. The soundtrack was good.
Yey in the end I'm happy that Rob made the right decision. 9% chance baby! Love those odds. I wish there will be season 2.
Yey in the end I'm happy that Rob made the right decision. 9% chance baby! Love those odds. I wish there will be season 2.
It's a good show
brandicbeverly14 February 2020
I really like the show, everyone who went through a breakup will connect to the main character, even though it's a stretched high fidelity movie with John Cusack, I think Zoe as the lead gives it a slight spin and I watched in one go.
One of the better shows I watched in a while.
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