Movie Review: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

In some small, remote piece of the heart of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, it wants to be Juno. And there are a few similarities – the strangely familiar font choice on the poster, the hipper-than-thou soundtrack, the perpetually hesitant Michael Cera.

But neither Nick nor Norah is Juno. They don’t even inhabit the same world as she does. And for this go-around, that’s a good thing.

The film opens with Nick (Cera) leaving his ex-girlfriend a message – one that lasts at least five minutes long. It’s pathetic, and no one does pathetic better than Cera, who has the ability to transform the most benign of lines into something hilarious with his halting delivery.

Despite being distraught over his ex breaking his heart, Nick is convinced by his bandmates to play their gig that night, but only because the legendary band Where’s Fluffy is playing a secret show in the city.

The secret show prompts plenty of others to come to the city as well, including Nick’s ex Tris and her new boyfriend, but more importantly for Nick – Norah (Kat Dennings.)

In one of the many coincidences that help keep the screenplay afloat, they all happen to converge at the same venue where Nick’s band is playing.

From this point on, the film goes into overdrive with misunderstandings, miscommunications and plain old missed opportunities for each character, but to his credit, director Peter Sollett never lets the chaos distract too much from the central point of the film – to get Nick and Norah to realize how perfect they are for each other.

And in another surprising element, the partial gimmick of using indie music playlists and the quest to find a reclusive band never seems forced. It never becomes more than a background element, thankfully keeping Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist from getting too hip for its own good. The romance stays central.

Article Author: Dusty Somers

Dusty Somers hails from Seattle, and is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a B.A. in journalism. He is a member of the Online Film Critics Society.

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