Sadly, this isn't some sort of revisionist take on 'The Thin Man' where William Powell's Nick trades in a martini for an iPod but more a rather slight but amiable teen take on Scorsese's 'After Hours'.
It is a movie trying so hard to be casual and mostly sweet, and what works in the film is completely to the credit of the film's leads Michael Cera and Kat Dennings. The two have perfectly matched off-kilter chemistry with an understated comic timing.
Cera of 'Arrested Development', 'Juno' and 'Superbad' has carved out a nice career with this delivery while Dennings is still cementing her husky, sarcastic delivery (seen in '40-year old Virgin' but barely registering in 'The House Bunny').
Outside of these two characters, though, and we get a lot of obnoxious stereotypes whose faces I would just soon step on as look at. The script by Lorene Scafaria based on a novel by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan seem to handle our central characters well (or maybe it's the personality that the actors injected to them) but flounder when dealing with the countless, swirling supporting characters.
The film tells the story of lovelorn Nick (Michael Cera) who hasn't quite accepted the break-up from man-eater Tris (Alexis Dziena), a screaming, prissy 'mean girl' without an ounce of charm (despite her being hot and him being a geek, it's hard to see what he would see in her...at least long-term).
Continuously trying to woo her back with mixed-CDs of his favorite music complete with custom artwork, little does he know that she trashes these CDs as soon as she gets tem.
This is where we meet Norah (Kat Dennings), an acquaintance of Tris at their private school who secretly rescues these CDs and cherishes them as objects of her musical soul mate.
Nick, the only straight member of a gay band called, subtly, 'The Jerk-Offs', gets courted to New York City for a gig where coincidentally Norah and crazy party-gal Caroline are heading.
With Tris showing up to this same gig with a college guy, she gives Norah a hard time for not showing up with anyone where Norah quickly talks Nick into pretending to be her boyfriend (not knowing he was Tris' ex-boyfriend...at this point, a meteor slamming into Manhattan filled with zombie strippers who promptly take over the world would be just as believable but I digress...).
This meeting segue ways into them taking off into the night to find the secret location of a gig by an indie band Where's Fluffy along with the other bandmates of 'The Jerk-Off's' where a series of misadventures await including Caroline getting a bit too wasted for own good and getting lost, Norah's club-hopping boyfriend Tal (Jay Baruchel), and a jealous Tris, who when seeing Nick with Norah decides she wants him back.
Directed by Peter Sollett, his first film since his debut 'Raising Victor Vargas' (a pic I loved) this had all the makings to be the teen's answer to the fantastic 'Once' from last year where musicians fall in love in the face of all odds. Or it could have been the iPod generation’s 'Before Sunrise,' but it seems to have settled for the obvious. What made 'Once' and 'Before Sunrise' so enrapturing, and even romantic, is not knowing whether the characters would end up together. Here, there is never any question despite some well-done meet-cute bickering.
The leads make the film watchable to an extent and nothing about the film screams terrible but I think I was most disappointed in the lost potential. Despite all that, teens will definitely respond to the flick as I know I would have as it's earnest, quirky and slightly immature - just like a teen.
The film is presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen with an English 5.1 Dolby Digital track. Special Features include a couple of commentaries, the first with director Sollett, Michael Cera, Kat Dennings and Ari Graynor and the second with director Sollett, authors Rachel Cohn & David Levithan and Screenwriter Lorene Scafaria. I checked out the first one and it seemed to be a lively track with the same understated comic wit you find in the film from the two leads.
There's about 10 minutes of 'Deleted and Alternate Scenes', some 'Outtakes', 'A Nick & Norah Puppet Show by Kat Dennings', 'Ari Graynor's Video Diary' which gives us some behind-the-scenes from the actresses perspective, 'Storyboard animations', a 'Faux Interview' Peter Sollett's Photo Album , a Bishop Allen music video and finishing things off with Previews and a Digital Copy of the film.
Definitely worth a look for fans of Michael Cera and teen angst, the two leads get this one close but not quite. Some nice special features give it some added value some it comes recommended for a certain age group but I'm guessing most peeps out of their twenties will just tolerate the film rather than enjoy it.
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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