Probably too cool for this role, but Zoe Kravitz is an appealing lead (and this is a much better showcase for her than Big Little Lies)
Nick Hornby’s 1995 novel had a pretty great film adaptation in 2000 from director Stephen Frears, when John Cusack played the lovelorn slacker Rob with a history of heartbreaks that he recited for us point blank to the camera. You wouldn’t think you could improve on that film or this material, but Hulu’s new series at least does something different with it- and that’s gender flip the protagonist.
Zoe Kravitz is Rob (Robyn), now a 29-year-old with her own history of loves lost in New York City and her own record store with which to play gatekeeper for the music tastes of others. It’s a change that surprisingly works. Kravitz (daughter of Lisa Bonet, who co-starred in the original movie) is believable as a hipster millennial with an obsessive knowledge of Fleetwood Mac and David Bowie (among others) and now she obsesses over playlists instead of mixtapes. She’s not as believable as a perpetually dumped on loser in love and life, I mean….she’s Zoe Kravitz. She looks like Zoe Kravitz, so it’s hard to buy that she has trouble finding a guy (any guy), and a 29 year old who owns her own record store? That doesn’t exactly signal that she’s not succeeding in life, does it?
The record store trio is perfectly reimagined in this new version of High Fidelity
But aside from that, Kravitz mostly sells Rob’s romantic woes, and her exes fit the bill too, from Kingsley Ben-Adir as the one who broke her heart most recently to Jake Lacy, who’s practically typecast as the doting nice guy boyfriend at this point (he’s showed up in this role on at least three different series that I can think of). The supporting cast is wonderful, with the hilarious and energetic Da’Vine Joy Randolph as co-worker Cherise (filling the Jack Black role from the movie), and David H. Holmes as other co-worker Simon, this time Rob’s gay ex-boyfriend and best friend (so good he gets to narrate his own episode late in the season).
The show kind of reminded me of Sex and the City and/or Girls, but with diversity and without the shallow wish fulfillment fantasy of wealthy lifestyles from the former or the unbearable smarminess of the latter. You can still relate to Rob (nothwitstanding Zoe Kravitz’s definite non-loser status) and her romantic travails are funny and amusing enough to watch in spite of her self-destructive tendencies. Pals Simon and Cherise make it funnier and up your investment in Rob and her friends at least. Overall it’s fun, breezy and I liked it. I can see myself coming back for a potential Season 2.
Grade: B+
Jake Lacy is always the good guy- you don’t not choose him
