Whenever a truly great movie comes out, there must soon after be another film to capitalize on it. Jurassic Park got America loving giant lizards again just in time for the atrocious Godzilla, and not following so far on the heels of Spider-Man’s revival of comic book cinema was the slap in the face that was The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. For the quirky and wonderfully heart-filled Juno, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist takes the reins. Unlike the aforementioned abominations of movie making though, Nick and Norah is actually quite good.
It is a bit unclear at first what the film’s true genre is. It has all the styling of a romantic comedy to be sure, but initially plays more like a love letter to indie music than any character driven feature. As Quentin Tarantino pays homage to his favorite films, so too does Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist pay homage to a series of artists.
Taking the lead in this film is the always-entertaining Michael Cera. His role is similar to that of previous films but with a bit more backbone, which is nice to see. The character, Nick, has made almost no progress in getting over his girlfriend after she dumped him. Thinking that a night out would do him good, his band all but forces him to go play a gig with them.
There he meets Norah, who over the course of the movie transitions from total stranger into his new girlfriend. Kat Dennings, who played Norah, was probably the most surprising. A relatively unknown actress, though perhaps better known for television, Kat delivers an excellent performance. She exudes a strange combination of shyness and extreme self-confidence that is truly compelling.
Nick, Norah, and their group of friends are on a constant search for a band called “Where’s Fluffy?” that are apparently playing in the area. On a side note, I have never felt less cool than when I realized that “Where’s Fluffy?” is not a real band at all, but one made up just for the purposes of the story. Like the legendary few who went away from Spinal Tap thinking they had seen a documentary, so too did I think that the fictional band was real.
The supporting cast is riddled with talented comedians such as Andy Samberg and John Cho, and a few familiar faces like that of Jay Baruchel. Sadly, outside of the joy of seeing familiar faces, the smaller roles seemed pretty one-dimensional. From the all too familiar drunk girl Caroline to the very stereotypically gay band mates, it’s clear that not a lot of time was spent developing anyone outside of the film’s immediate focus.
The one thing that the film does absolutely brilliantly though is capturing so very accurately the feeling of the all-nighter. Beginning at around 4:00 PM and ending around 6:00 AM, different moods, different atmospheres and different surroundings create a wonderful illusion of time passage. When the sun started to rise on the New York skyline, I too felt like I had stayed up until morning.
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist marks the embracing of a unique and wonderful style of film, and one that certainly merits revisiting, again and again.
4.5/5
