At first glance, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist might seem like a just another chance for Michael Cera to resuscitate the nerdy persona he perfected in Juno and Superbad.
The movie, which opens Friday, looks a lot like Cera's previous projects, complete with a hand-doodled intro and the actor's trademark baby-faced banter. But rather than coaxing jokes from tragic tales of teendom, Playlist removes some of the geeky awkwardness from adolescence and builds its story around a more mature, Ivy League-bound set.
As a result, the film doesn't drip with the caustic sarcasm of Juno nor deliver the gut-wrenchingly funny riffs that made Superbad stand out. Instead, Playlist delivers a mixed bag of PG-13 themes, hovering between amusing and endearing, romantic and sappy.
Nonetheless, it's a fun, all-night ride through New York City with a killer cast and soundtrack to boot.
(Warning: Slight spoilers ahead.)
Infinite Playlist unfolds after Norah, the film's music-loving antiheroine played expertly by Kat Dennings (The House Bunny, The 40-Year Old Virgin), ropes heartbroken musician Nick into posing as her boyfriend at a nightclub.
Turns out, they're a hip version of seemingly star-crossed lovers. Norah's been secretly salvaging mix CDs intended for Nick's ex-girlfriend, a man-eating tween named Tris (executed terrifyingly well by Alexis Dziena). This forms the focus of the film – can Nick and Norah unravel messy ties to their exes in time to explore their own blooming romance?
(They're also hunting down the location of a secret performance by fictional band Where's Fluffy, a tidbit that gets somewhat lost until the end of the film.)
Luckily, while Nick and Norah struggle to sort out their issues, viewers are treated to a colorful cast of sidekick characters that occasionally manage to steal the spotlight from their counterparts during their brief on-screen interludes.
There's no McLovin' here, but Norah's best gal pal, the hilariously inebriated Caroline (Ari Graynor of The Sopranos) rouses laughs with her boozy antics. Nick's bandmates Thom and Dev (21's Aaron Yoo and Rafi Gavron) deliver classic comedy as they bicker over band names like The Jerk Offs and Shit Sandwich for their queercore dance band (Nick is the only straight member).
Director Peter Sollett, whose last project was 2002's inner-city drama Raising Victor Vargas, doesn't cater entirely to the budding hipster set: He also appeals to aging hipsters in the audience by punctuating Nick and Norah's 24-hour spree with celebrity cameos, including Saturday Night Live alums Seth Meyers (as a randy passenger who mistakes Nick's canary-yellow Yugo for a cab) and Andy Samberg (as a lecherous homeless guy). Folk singer Devendra Banhart saunters by in a liquor store and Harold and Kumar's John Cho pops up as a rambunctious nightclub emcee.
Sollett also delivers a loving and heartfelt tribute to New York City, replete with shimmering panning shots of the nighttime landscape. Legendary concert halls and weathered clubs serve as the backdrop for characters suffering through run-ins with exes and near-misses. Among the night's pit stops are music mainstay Bowery Ballroom, dance bar Arlene's Grocery and Brooklyn's hipster staple, Union Pool.
Infinite Playlist is best suited for teen and twenty-something audiences weaned on the micro-genre of teen dramedies like Sixteen Candles, Can't Hardly Wait and Dazed and Confused. Like its brethren, Playlist explores the transitory period between high school and college while tugging the right strings to make audiences hum with nostalgia.
For the rest of the movie-going audience, a good litmus test to determine whether this indie rock love story is up your alley might be to examine your iPod.
If you've got more ZZ Top and Doobie Brothers on your playlist than Fleet Foxes, Death Cab or Vampire Weekend, you might want to consider a different picture.
Rating:
Wired: Micheal Cera's emo schtick holds, sidekick characters shine, celeb cameos inject bolts of energy into the 90 minute drama.
Tired: Nick and Norah lack chemistry, New York feels overly sanitized.
See also:
- Review: Eagle Eye Taps Thrills in Surveillance Hell
- Review: Dim Bulbs Light Up Burn After Reading
- Review: Pineapple Express Lightens the Superhero Load
- Review: X-Files Flick Falls Short of Show's Glory Days
- Review: Charming Wall-E Sweeps Up Trash, Hearts
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