In the grand scheme of things, the idea of swapping out John Cusack for Zoë Kravitz sounds like a good one. Cusack is a wonderful performer, of course, and I truly wish we were seeing more of him these days but he doesn’t ooze cool and hip like Kravitz does. Zoë Kravitz just seems damn cool, I don’t know how else to describe it.
That’s my round-about way of saying that her upcoming series High Fidelity also looks damn cool. The show now has its first trailer and it showcases the romantic trials and tribulations of Kravitz’s character as she attempts to find a partner while managing her record store and breaking the fourth wall to explain it all to the audience.
Yes, the show looks a lot like the movie on which it’s based but that isn’t necessary a bad thing. The film, starring Cusack, is really a fantastic romantic comedy with a truly stellar soundtrack and a heart and soul that feels a bit more authentic, lived-in and rough-around-the-edges than a typical rom-com. It also has one of Cusack’s best performances and, oh hey, an appearance from Zoë Kravitz’s mother, Lisa Bonet. Ah, small world.
High Fidelity was originally going to be a Disney+ exclusive but Disney then decided that it was too adult for that streaming service and shipped it off to Hulu, which they also own. That makes a lot of sense considering Disney+ is pretty much filled with family films and I can’t imagine Disney changing their tune on that any time soon. Hulu will be a good home for High Fidelity and it hopefully finds an audience. The idea of converting the book (and the movie based on it) into a series is smart because the film packed a lot into just a couple of hours, this is a story that could definitely be spread out over time, allowing each of the doomed relationships more attention and screen time.
Here’s hoping the show has a soundtrack that rivals the film’s. High Fidelity begins streaming on Valentine’s Day because of course.
Fun fact: while doing research for this article, I discovered that Lenny Kravitz’s cousin is none other than Today Show anchor Al Roker. That sounds like an interesting family reunion!
