Thursday
02Oct2008
Movie Review - 'Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist'
Thursday, October 2, 2008 at 11:57PM Nick and Norah's Infinite PlaylistStarring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings
Directed by Peter Sollett
Rated PG-13
One of the best things that can be said about
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is that
there's very little not to like about it. That gives it a big advantage over a
lot of teen comedies that throw a lot of surly, half-formed characters in
situations where we're supposed to like them and overcrowd their story with
pointless joke after joke after joke, hoping for the laughs they're not capable
of creating organically.
Another huge factor here is that Nick and Norah
is unabashedly sweet. That's a risk for a movie aimed at 18 - 24 year olds, but
it definitely pays off. There are still problems with the movie, but it's one of
those that could pleasantly surprise you if you're not expecting to be blown
away.
Nick (Michael
Cera) is the lovable loser. He's in a terrible band that doesn't know
how lousy they are, he's not cool in any way, he drives a Yugo, and he's
miserable over being dumped by his girlfriend Tris (Alexis
Dziena), who is, shall we say, not the kind of girl a teenager like
Nick could normally date. Teenagers are petty creatures, generally.
Norah (Kat
Dennings) wants to be a bit more of loser, as it turns out. She's
been shying away from a fairly cushy life as long as she's been aware of it.
While most teens would trumpet the fact that they've got money and their dad is
connected with rock stars, Norah keeps it her little secret. Like Nick, Tris has
had her way with Norah, too, belittling her throughout high school.
Nick and Norah meet in a fateful way. Their journey is
unexpected in real life, the status quo in movies. But the growth of their
relationship, these two kids uncomfortable with themselves much less each other,
is not slapped together at all. It feels authentic. Because we like them, we see
no reason for Nick and Norah to not like each other.
It doesn't begin that way, or stay that way throughout,
but there's a real pull between these characters that doesn't exist just so the
movie has a beginning, middle, and an end. Just last week, Nights in Rodanthe
was supposed to be romantic. It's not. There are scenes of romance, true, but
they're not developed out of anything substantive. Nick and Norah's Infinite
Playlist creates whole characters and based on their personalities, allows
its leads to find their own way to one another. 
Reader Comments (1)
I really enjoyed this flick quite a bit....it was like American Graffiti for the emo crowd.