Review of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008) by Your Movie S — 13 Apr 2013

'Nick and Norah's Infinate Playlist' aka 'Juno Wannabe' is not entirely convincing. I liked it, but only as much as I like Mac and Cheese from a box. It just doesn't have that special touch as the homemade stuff.

Michael Cera is back to play yet another dopey, yet strangely attractive high school kid who seems to attract all the girls, despite his awkwardness. This time, istead of the character being named Paulie, his name is Nick. He just broke up with his girlfriend, Tris(Alexis Dziena) and is pitying himself away, sending hundreds of mix CDs to her.

Kat Dennings, who I really don't like all too much, plays Norah, who finds the CDs in the trash cans at school(Tris has been throwing them away). Well, what do you know it, they end up meeting and through a sequence of events are stuck with each other through the night.

A couple things: Though the film is called 'Nick and Nora's Infinate Playlist' there are no references to any playlists. Not a single I-Pod turns up on screen, which is surprising as I'm sure Apple would have given the film piles of money for product placement. The title is simply misleading. I expect a movie about the teenage obsession with I-Pods, playlists, and video phones, and get a movie about teenagers getting drunk, lost in New York, and trying to find some random band called "Where's Fluffy".

I imagine the filmmakers spent a lot of time discussing inspiration from George Lucas' classic film, 'American Graffiti'. There are similarities. 1 - It's a coming of age story. 2 - It takes place enirely in one night, showcasing the misadventures of teenagers. 3 - There's a lot of cruising and talk of cars. 4 - There's pop music from beginning to end without a single drop of silence. 5 - There's an unearthly music sensation discussed through out the entire movie that everyone seems to love.

The differences: 1 - 'American Graffiti' is about the loss of innocence, and the ability to change over night. It's symbolic in reference to the time it's set in(1963). 'Nick and Norah' simply assumes that coming of age means having your first orgasm. 2 - 'American Graffiti' showcased many different simultaneous stories, brilliantly interwoven together. 'Nick and Norah' is far too linear, and too coincidental through people bumping into each other no matter where they go. 3 - When the kids in 'American Graffiti' talked about cars, you could feel the passion they truly felt. In Nick and Norah, the few scenes where they actually do talk about their love of music, it's in statements like these: "I love that band. They have a good drummer." 4 - The pop music played in 'American Graffiti' is played through some other source, it isn't tacked onto the film. For instance, the music is always playing from a radio or television, never added as an over laying score. It also let the music establish the mood of the scene or feelings of the characters. 'Nick and Norah' uses it both ways, and very inconsistently. 5 - 'American Graffiti' actually gives us what we want and shows Wolfman at the end of the film. 'Nick and Norah' teases with the fact that they finally found the band, and then cruelly with holds them from us.

Another thing: The orgasm scene is horrible. It should have been cut. Nick and Norah are in a recording studio, alone, and begin kissing. We are then shown that they're being recorded, and through a close up shot of the sound monitor, we hear her scream and the lights becoming more and more amplified through her first orgasm ever. Then, when we see them after the scream, they are both fully clothed with her pants unzipped. So, what? He just fingered her? She had her first orgasm because he kind of tickled her snizz a little bit? That's . . . gay.

Speaking of gay: I was very thankful that this film incorporated three very prominent male characters that were gay, yet behaved like normal guys. They weren't flamboyant, they weren't overtly feminine, they were just regular guys hanging out with friends. This was very surprising, brave, and amiable to me. However, my joy sunk as soon as we witness a scene of a drag club singing, 'The 12 Gays of Christmas'. Not for the stereotype, but for the idiocy.

On the whole, I'd say to see the film at the dollar theater, and not waste the perfectly good eight dollars on seeing it at a Megaplex. It really has some fun things, but it's got a lot of stupid things too: Nick's car doesn't look anything like a cab. At all. Not at all.