Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - REVIEW

While the concept of "teen comedies" is certainly nothing new, there seems to be a recent subgenre that's making an increasing mark: the "one crazy night on a quest to find object/person/place X where everything goes wrong". Last year it was Superbad, in which two losers, hoping to impress some girls, wound up on a wild quest for alcohol to take to a late night party. Now, we have the slightly less wild, and much less inappropriate (this one's only PG-13. Superbad got a full on R) journey through New York City. The plot revolves around Nick (Superbad and Juno's Michael Cera), a quiet guitar player for his band who has recently been dumped by his ex girlfriend. That night he meets Norah (Kat Dennings), who, in an attempt to prove that she didn't come to the dance club alone, grabs Nick and asks him to be her boyfriend for a few minutes. Shocked, Tris gradually begins to try and get Nick back out of jealousy. Then there's Norah's friend Caroline, who has a habit of getting drunk and needing someone to take her home. The final ingredient is the quest for an underground band called "Where's Fluffy", who has a habit of showing up unnannounced, leaving only small, unclear clues, and often giving out plenty of red herrings. Unfortunately, these multiple story threads seem to be too much for the screenwriter to handle. Though Cera and Dennings (along with Ari Graynor as drunken Caroline) are plenty likeable, the script does an almost backwards job of making them fall for each other. Their reactions often don't seem fully justified, especially when they relate to Triss, Nick's ex (she's not nearly developed enough at the start). What's perhaps the biggest problem with the film is it's lack of musically related dialogue. For a film a about an "infinite playlist", the most the two characters ever talk about music is "you like so and so? WOW, me too, I first heard them a few years ago and I can't stop!". There's never any real discussion of WHY they like the music they listen to as much as they do, and it undermines what should have been a musically charged story. On a separate note from the music, the script probably makes an even bigger error in a rendezvous late in the game that feels forced. Let's just say that the Rock N' Roll and the drugs take a back seat to the sex...sort of. That said, there are some solid laughs thanks to Cera's meekness, Dennings' directness, and Graynor's hilarious drunkenness. I understand that the film was trying to capture the craziness that comes with wild nights out, but it could have used a handful or two of focus and structure, to make Nick and Norah's journey a bit more memorable.

Grade: B-

Nominations: Best Actress - Kat Dennings(#4), Best Supporting Actress - Ari Graynor(#5)

Number of 2008 films seen: 33