Movie Gazette

I felt a little old watching Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, but not necessarily in a bad way. More like in a nostalgic way, like I was watching an iPod version of Say Anything or Some Kind of Wonderful. Sure, Nick and Norah and their club-hopping friends are much more vice savvy, and there’s little thought to old teen movie standbys like parents or school, but if you had to put this film up next to a big screen peer, I’d say its heart is more John Hughes, less Superbad.

Norah (Kat Dennings) has a music crush on whoever keeps making her frenemy Tris (Alexis Dziena) those awesome mix CDs, complete with lovingly crafted cover art. Events throw Norah and Nick (Michael Cera)—the ex Tris has been so anxious to dump—and thus, the mix CD maker—together, and the pair come to the conclusion they are “musical soulmates.” Meanwhile, Nick’s friends conspire to rid Nick of Tris once and for all, Norah tries valiantly to take care of her drunken friend Caroline (Ari Graynor), and the entire teen population seems intent on uncovering the secret concert location of aptly named band “Where’s Fluffy?”.

From the previews, I got the impression that this movie might be trying to jump on the Juno train—too cool music, clever and cynical teens, Michael Cera—but where Juno was almost TOO insider, Nick and Norah is a bit more accessible, and when it does start to cross the line into “I knew that band before anybody else” territory, it quickly and wisely mocks itself and its kind. It treads dangerously in that people over, say, 22 may look down on it, and teenagers might find it too contrived—but despite what the title tells you, it’s not really that much about the music. It’s really just a fun little teen romance that provides some good laughs. The best parts of the film are its leads—both Dennings and Cera are extremely likeable, but they’re also awkward, sometimes tongue-tied, and the fact that they don’t always say the right thing or that their hip-speak sometimes falls flat and leaves them fumbling is a realistic touch. But this isn’t exactly built around realism, so to enjoy it, you either have to be in the desired demographic or be willing to suspend head-shaking disbelief that these are the teens of today. Way down where it lives, this is just a story about two crazy kids coming together in this mixed up world … with, you know, matching iPods … and it’s … sweet.