Once again, Michael Cera is perfectly cast in another offbeat teen comedy as the sensitive and charming high school nerd in Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Much like his roles in Superbad (2007) and Juno (2007), Cera is not the typical male love interest, but his shy and honest demeanor heightens his popularity on the screen. His characters are real, allowing the audience to easily identify with him. But it’s not only Cera’s performance that carries these films along; the stories all have true heart and meaningful characters that stay with you even after the story ends.
Nick (Michael Cera) was recently dumped by Tris (Alexis Dziena), after being together for six months. He expresses his broken heart to Tris through mixed CD’s he sends her, which she immediately discards. One night at a club in New York, Norah (Kat Dennings from The House Bunny [2008]) approaches Nick, having never met him before, and convinces him to pretend to be her boyfriend so to spite Tris, her high school frenemy.
The plan works and so Nick and Norah spend the rest of the night together, trying to find a mysterious band called Where’s Fluffy while also trying to find Norah’s drunk friend, Caroline (Ari Graynor). In the beginning, Nick and Norah have feuding arguments mostly over Tris since Nick is obviously still not over her. But don’t worry, even Nick’s band of friends think Tris is not right for him. They group together to try to get Nick and Norah together, believing she is the one for him.
Nick and Norah slowly discover their attraction to one another, but are hesitant at moving forward because of their past experiences. They hide their true feelings behind sarcasm and indifference to avoid getting hurt. Nick is afraid of having feelings for anyone new after his devastating relationship with Tris. And Norah has so much self-doubt that she’s had the same on-again-off-again boyfriend (Jay Baruchel) for the past three years. But as Nick and Norah get closer, they learn to face their insecurities with themselves and uncertainty in their own futures.
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist is reminiscent of several earlier films. American Pie (1999) comes to mind because of both film’s treatment of teenage language and sexual activity. When American Pie first came out, its candid representation of high school students was shocking. I had never seen a movie about teenagers delving deep into the concepts of sex and sexual experiences. It had always just been a focus of peer pressure in a teenager’s life. Now Nick and Norah carry out that same truthful representation, but without that shock value. Teenagers having sex is just a matter of fact.
The story also reminded me of Before Sunrise (1995), a love story that takes place all in the span of one night. And Nick and Norah is exactly that—they first meet as strangers, then spend one crazy night together on the streets of New York and fall in love. And even though Nick and Norah’s adventures are wildly amusing as they drive from place to place, there’s still an honest connection made between them.
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist is just an easy movie to watch. The story creatively captures what it is like to be young in this decade. The title itself signifies the technology in this era and its effect on the youth. But the story just makes you wish you could go back to your high school days and have one more crazy life-changing night like Nick and Norah.
Kristin’s Grade: B
Director: Peter Sollett
Screenwriter: Lorene Scafaria
Based on: book by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Genre: Romance/Comedy
Running Time: 90 minutes
Rated: PG-13 (for mature thematic material, language and crude behavior)
