Excessive Constancy Evaluation: Hulu’s Reboot Is a Charmingly Lo-Fi Tackle Heartbreak

Reviews

TV Review Grade B+On the danger of sounding like High Fidelity‘s principal character: The right cowl model of a track is hard to drag off, proper? It has to keep up the spirit of the unique, whereas additionally placing a contemporary spin on it that makes you hear it in a brand new manner. Hulu’s new tackle Excessive Constancy — premiering this Friday, Feb. 14; I’ve seen 5 of the ten episodes — is a canopy of types, too, and it does a reasonably strong job of taking what was nice in regards to the authentic guide and film and including a contemporary, hipster-y vibe to it. Early on, it hews somewhat too carefully to the supply materials, however when it ventures out by itself, it shortly finds an easygoing groove, due to an altogether charming lead efficiency from Zoë Kravitz.

The Massive Little Lies alum stars right here as Rob (the position performed by John Cusack within the 2000 film model), a terminally single, weed-smoking Brooklynite who owns a document retailer that solely sells vinyl — a glowing “No CDs” indicators hangs prominently on the wall — and narrates her interior monologue to us, a la Fleabag. Now Excessive Constancy doesn’t get as deep or as stingingly humorous as Fleabag did, however Kravitz helps it come shut: She has an appealingly chilled-out charisma right here, even when Rob is neurotically obsessing about her dumpster fireplace of a love life, and her to-camera confessions assist us join with Rob as she lists off her all-time Prime 5 most memorable heartbreaks. A type of heartbreaks continues to be very contemporary, too — Mac (The OA‘s Kingsley Ben-Adir), who she’s not completely over but — and seeing Rob pine for the love that they had and misplaced provides a layer of honest melancholy to her story.

High Fidelity Hulu Simon CheriseMost of Excessive Constancy, although, is a laid-back hangout comedy, with Rob spending her days and nights along with her document retailer co-workers: her ex Simon (Mindhunter‘s David H. Holmes), a grade-A music nerd who’s come out as homosexual since he and Rob dated; and Cherise (Empire vet Da’Vine Pleasure Randolph), who fills the Jack Black position as Excessive Constancy‘s merry agent of chaos, grooving to “Come On Eileen” and flying right into a rage when a buyer dares to make use of Shazam as an alternative of simply asking her what track is enjoying. (When a glum Rob wears a colorless sweater to work, Cherise asks Simon, “Does she appear sadder than ordinary, or is it the sweater?”) Actually, when you get previous the premise, TV comedies are all about assembling a bunch of individuals you wish to hang around with every week, and Excessive Constancy has put collectively a enjoyable little trio to spend a half-hour with. (Oh, did I point out the episodes are solely a half-hour lengthy? Such a bonus, on this Peak TV period!)

As you would possibly anticipate, the present additionally has an impeccably curated music soundtrack: Questlove is credited as the manager music producer, and I discovered myself heading to Spotify greater than as soon as to take a look at songs from the primary few episodes. Music lovers would really feel proper at house roaming the aisles of Excessive Constancy‘s Championship Vinyl, the place Rob and her cohorts go off on sprawling rants about David Bowie’s greatest albums and debate the deserves of nonetheless listening to Michael Jackson and Kanye West in immediately’s local weather. (Not that it’s nice for enterprise: One of many present’s operating jokes is that the shop is at all times empty, with the workers’ music snobbery alienating almost each potential buyer.) There’s a palpable love of music in all types right here, and that bleeds by way of in each scene.

Excessive Constancy does take a couple of episodes to seek out its footing: Too typically within the early going, it performs as a straight copy of the film, right down to the precise scenes and dialogue. Nevertheless it does finally department out, and efficiently so, with Rob getting a couple of new love pursuits, together with Jake Lacy (The Workplace) as a strait-laced blind date and Thomas Doherty (Legacies) as a horny Scottish rock singer. By the point Episode 5 rolls round, with the nice Parker Posey guest-starring as a kooky artist trying to unload her dishonest husband’s mega precious document assortment, Excessive Constancy has established a cool, unassuming appeal all its personal. It’s type of like your favourite native dive bar: nothing too flashy, however a dependable mixture of enjoyable individuals, a killer jukebox and good vibes.

THE TVLINE BOTTOM LINE: Hulu’s Excessive Constancy is a strong cowl that expands on the unique, with an enthralling lead efficiency from Zoë Kravitz.    

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