Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Review-By Kelsey Zukowski

Starring: Michael Cera, Kat Dennings, Aaron Yoo, Alexis Dziena, Ari Graynor, Jay Baruchel
Directed By: Peter Sollett
Written By: Lorene Scafaria (screenplay), Rachel Cohn (novel), David Levithan (novel)
Released: 2008
Grade: B

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist is framed after the young adult novel written by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. The two lead characters were named after Nick and Nora Charles, Husband and wife detectives from the Thin Man series. This was a homage to the characters, but little else was taken from the characters aside from some of the playful banter between them. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist is a fun and amusing teen romantic comedy that doesn’t aspire to go beyond just showing us a crazy night between our characters.

Nick (Cera) is still trying to get over his break-up with his girlfriend of 6 months, Tris (Dziena), a very stuck up and conceited girl with little compassion for Nick. He still sends her very elaborate and creative mix CDs that she just throws away and one of her classmates that she looks down on, Norah (Dennings), takes them since she appreciates them much more than Tris. Nick really doesn’t feel like going anywhere including his show with his homo-sexual band (aside from him), The Jerkoffs. The only reason he decides to go to the show is his favorite band, Where’s Fluffy, is having a secret show somewhere tonight. At the show, Tris shows up with a college guy and shoves this both in Nick and Norah’s faces. Norah is feeling insecure about her being there alone and doesn’t want to let Tris feel superior to her. So she grabs Nick, having no idea who he is at this point, and asks her to be his boyfriend just long enough to show Tris that she wasn’t lying about being there with someone.

Nick’s friends think that Norah could be the girl that could finally help him get over Tris. So they offer to take Norah’s very drunk and barely conscious friend, Caroline (Graynor), home to give Nick and Norah some alone time. They have a good time with each other, but it doesn’t take long for things to take a bitter turn. After they get in an argument Norah is about to leave to go back to her sort of friend with benefits boyfriend of 3 years, Tall (Baruchel) that uses the relationship when it is beneficial to him. At this point Nick discovers that his friends lost Caroline, since she woke up with no memory of what happened earlier and thought she had been kidnapped. In a , Norah goes with Nick and meets up with his friends as they travel all over Manhattan trying to find her. Meanwhile, Tris is basically stalking Nick while dragging her new boyfriend around and Tall is trying to pawn his CD off on Norah, attempting to get it to her dad who is the head of a record label. Also, they are still looking for where Where’s Fluffy will be playing their show. Nick and Norah finally desperate for some alone time go to Norah’s dad’s recording studio, where they are both able to embark on their love for music and their connection to one another.

The cast was excellent and added enormous likeability to the characters. Being very talented young actors who are always able to give a lot of quirky and individualistic energy, Michael Cera and Kat Dennings, work wonderfully off each other exerting charisma through one another. The moments that they are together are the ones where the film shines the most. Dennings is a strong character through her personality, but she brings out the insecurities equally well through Norah. Cera does a good job of bringing out both dimensions of Nick and both make their characters natural and enjoyable. Cera although a very funny actor seems to be playing the same shy quirky underdog trying to get the girl who seems out of reach. I would really like to see him try to attack a different type of role soon. Aaron Yoo has really done well lately in terms of portraying different quality roles. In Disturbia he gave some much needed comic relief and made it a light fun movie despite some of the predictability of it and the clearly unoriginal premise. In 21, he played a genius living on the edge of high stakes poker. Here, he portrays a playful homo-sexual teen who puts all of his energy in to his band and looks out for his friends while having fun with life. He was very funny in Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist and was a great addition. Ali Graynor is another one who had hilarious comedic timing. She played the wild and drunken Caroline perfectly. She goes from being completely out of it to be truly paranoid and so out of touch with reality, yet she always sticks her same old tendencies no matter how crazy some of them seem. Jay Baruchel plays the conceited jerk pretty well as Tall. Alexis Dziena was annoying and impossible not to hate, but this was just how she was supposed to come off. She was mean-spirited and it really didn’t seem like she remotely cared about anyone but herself, but still wanted to be in control of everyone so she would stay on top.

There are several awkward seeming pauses particularly through Nick and Norah, but for me, this just made it seem more natural. Both of their characters are more of outsiders and neither have huge confidence with the opposite sex. Nick is trying to get over this girl who he puts much higher up than she deserves. Being shut down by her, takes away a lot from him and gives him no reason to believe he will have better luck with anyone else. Norah is constantly being belittled by others, but especially Tris, and is so insecure about herself and scared of not having anyone to make her feel special she continues to resort to Tall even though deep down she really knows she is better than that. After making out as part of a show, Nick and Norah are suddenly in a car together venturing back to reality and trying to figure out if there could be something there or not. Whether there is the possibility of this or not, this is either an awkward or nervous situation. With their off-beat personalities combined with their instability in relationships, this makes it seem much more real, also since more often than not this is how things start off in real life.

There are talks of some of Nick and Norah’s favorite bands and their passion for music. We hear Nick’s band play and a few songs from Nick’s mixes, but overall for a movie with the words Infinite Playlist in the title and the connection that Nick and Norah find through this, it could have portrayed music itself more in depth. The soundtrack should have been more continuous and portrayed the characters dedication to music, showing what it did for them. Also, it seems like more in detailed talks about music should have occurred seeing as this is the strongest thing bringing them together. A bit more explanation should have taken place to truly make the audience understand as well as to make the connection between the two seem like it had a strong and pure basis. This would have made the film be more complete. Still without it, the comedy and relationships are there. Some of the funniest moments include a piece of gum that has been through 5 different mouths and a toilet full of vomit, one extremely energetic fan of a failing white rapper, and the great dialogue especially between Caroline in her hectic and drunken state and the goofing around of the Jerkoffs. There is also the drama that ensues on this wild night that has everyone running all over town. Seeing the relationships strengthen and build becomes more interesting the more we learn about the characters. More than anything though, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, is just a fun night and therefore a light and enjoyable time for the audience.