Hulu took a risk by rebooting the 2000 cult classic film High Fidelity, begging the question: how does the High Fidelity TV show compare to the original movie? The original High Fidelity — an adaptation of a Nick Hornby novel of the same name — is directed by Stephen Frears and stars John Cusack as Rob, a record store owner on a journey of self-discovery as he reflects on his past breakups. The reboot features cool girl actress Zoë Kravitz as its lead character, and she too is examining her past heartbreaks, looking to discover what it all means.
The original High Fidelity is completely male-dominated, as it centers around Rob's wounded male psyche. The all-male screenwriting team, D.V. DeVincentis, Steve Pink, John Cusack, and Scott Rosenberg, delve into a narcissistic character who’s struggling to understand why his past relationships failed. Rob shares the screen with Barry (Jack Black) and Dick (Todd Louiso), his employees and friends. As a result, the movie is largely focalized on the perspectives of these music-loving men.
The Hulu TV series injects some much needed diversity into High Fidelity's story; there are tons of parallels with the original, yet enough differences for the Hulu original to standalone as its own masterpiece. The female creators Sarah Kucserka and Veronica West do a great job of retaining the charm of the classic High Fidelity while also giving the TV series a modern, relatable spin of their own.
In the 2000 film, the location of Championship Vinyl is in Chicago. The busy city sets a cool landscape for the music scene, and has the grudge vibe of underground clubs from the late '90s to early 2000s. The TV version is moved to Brooklyn. The record store of the same name is set in the hipster neighborhood of Williamsburg, which gives the TV series a similar feel to the original's late '90s setting, even though it’s set nearly twenty years later.
Both High Fidelity the movie and the TV series feature a main character named Rob. In the film, Cusack portrays an apathetic and semi-aggressive man who often plays the victim and fixates on things he believes he has no control over. In the remake, even though it’s two decades later, Kravitz’s version of Rob is eerily similar: the new Rob is biracial and bisexual, although more hip and modern, but she still falls into the same toxic traits of self-pity and self-indulgence. Kravitz's Rob (short for Robyn) is still an ego-centric record store owner, confiding in her employees Cherise (Da'Vine Joy Randolph) and Simon (David H. Holmes); however, the latter get to develop into their own characters audiences can root for — they aren’t just there to push along Rob’s storyline.
Both the movie and the TV series features moments in which Rob breaks the fourth wall, showing the audience every detail of the thought process each character has. Through these moments, viewers gain a sense of just how inflated both Robs' egos are. The one redeeming quality that they have is that they’re both self-aware of this. These inner dialogue moments also show how analytical Rob is: both Cusack's and Kravitz's versions make tons of lists throughout the film and TV series stretching from dream jobs, their love life, and of course, music. Kravitz stays true to Cusack’s Rob by being a complete music snob. Her record collection is vast, and we even get to see her one-up a misogynistic male twice her age when he brushes her off while she dares to speak about the Beatles. She showcases her knowledge and walks away feeling proud and smug.
Even with the location and time period being completely different, there is a clear resemblance in both Robs’ styles. Kravitz, like Cusack, is constantly wearing band tees and baggy jeans: she mimics his style down to wearing the same black t-shirt featuring the "Dickeys" logo. The millennial version of Rob is effortlessly cool, however, and comes off less pretentious than the film’s version. The main change to Rob in the High Fidelity TV series is her feminine traits. Kucserka and West do a beautiful job of writing a character that is made to be played by a woman. Instead of just slotting Zoë into a role written for a man, the subtle characterization differences sheds light on how women, just like men, can also be carefree, yet insecure and self-serving. Kravitz stands out in this performance and simply makes the audience fall in love with her.
In addition to the similarities between both Rob characters, there are many similarities between Rob’s ex-partners in the TV series and the original movie. Hulu's High Fidelity features mirrored scenes from the original film, including exact dialogue, as the audience follows Rob's introspective journey. The TV show and film both start off in the middle of a breakup, with Rob listing his/her top five most painful endings to previous relationships. Both Robs went by the motto of “it’s not what you are like, but what you like.” Each starts the list dating all the way back to middle school, showing how obsessive each character is on the minute details of their lives.
The second person on both lists is someone both Robs later realize hadn't rejected them. The third person is self-centered ex whom they both believe was always way out of their league. The TV series even includes the scene in which Rob screams for the former lover in the rain, whom he/she sees with other people through a window. The movie depicts this character, Charlie (Catherine Zeta-Jones), as a vapid socialite who Rob always idolized, only to realize years later that she’s empty and uninteresting. This is mirrored in the TV series' Kat (Ivanna Sakhno), except it’s updated for the Instagram age: Kat is a social media influencer. Like in the movie, Rob realizes after a dinner party that Kat is completely fake and lacks any personality of her own.
The fourth person on each list is the ex both Robs believed to be the most like themselves — yet, the ex left them for another man. The main difference in the Hulu series is that Simon (David H. Holmes) leaves Rob when he realizes he’s gay. The split is more amicable, though, and Simon remains in Rob’s life, even joining her at the record store. The final ex on each list is the person who is shown breaking up with Rob when the story begins: Laura (Iben Hjejle) in the movie and Mac (Kingsley Ben-Adir) in the TV series.
The Hulu High Fidelity series does have a little more wiggle room to be able to depict a more thorough version of Rob since it’s across a ten-episode span, so audiences really feel the pain of her breakup with Mac. The TV series includes many flashbacks of the two of them together, and when Mac moves on from their relationship, it seems like it’s a mistake.
While there are minor differences between Hulu's High Fidelity and the original, like Kravitz's Rob having more love interests and a brother intertwined in her story, the main difference between the two versions is the takeaway. In the film version of High Fidelity, Cusack’s character reunites with the woman who broke his heart at the beginning of the film. Rob realized the breakup was his fault, and he learned to be a better partner by fully committing to Laura. In the show, Kravitz’s mistakes are a little too far gone. The love of her life has moved on and is even engaged to another woman. While her heart still pines for him, she knows she must let go and tries to reconcile with a fling she’s met along the way, yet she is again rejected. This ending is a bit of a punch in the gut, but may be the creators' way of leading into a second season of High Fidelity.
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