Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Copyright 2009, Sony Pictures

I don't want to spend too much time here, but I got a chance to finally see the fall 2008 teen dramedy Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and wanted to say a few words. None of them will be very kind, though, which surprises me more than it may surprise any of you. I'd wanted to see this film when it first came out, but The Dark Knight being shown at an actual IMAX theater in my area beckoned. My wife and another friend saw it; both enjoyed it. The reviews were relatively good. All of this leads to a question: what is wrong with these people?

Nick and Norah is not only a disappointing film, it's unrealistic, annoying, cliched, and other adjectives that should deter you from putting it on your Netflix queue. The plot is mostly threadbare: Nick (Michael Cera) is a recently dumped high school senior in a band populated with gay guys and him; Norah (Kat Dennings) is the daughter of a record producer who knows Nick's slutty ex, admires his musical taste, and winds up meeting him on a whirlwind evening through New York City as they try to find a band called Where's Fluffy. Do they fall in love? Is the Pope...well, you know.

And that's part of the problem. Nothing about this movie is particularly special or unique. That which tries to be unique just comes off as weird. Why, for example, would a band thinks its best marketing tool was being so elusive as to send people off on wild-goose chases for their performances? Maybe it's me, but that's too much work for a musical sound that's nothing you haven't heard before. Mostly, this movie is chock full of cliched characters. Though Cera is charming here, if you've seen him in...well, anything else, you will not be surprised about his acting choices here. Dennings is also good, but there's not much work for her to do aside from looking annoyed or frustrated. The other actors are game, but the script is weak. Ari Gaynor (now seen as a single mother on Fringe) is funny as Norah's drunk friend, but a running gag with her chewing gum is not only disgusting, but pointless (even if I'm willing to buy that she'd keep chewing her gum after it landed in a toilet full of vomit, why would anyone else chew the gum without that knowledge?).

Overall, Nick and Norah is just not a good movie. Maybe I'm a bit grumpy, but movies with characters as one-note and misguided (so you broke up with a guy and you're following him around New York City...right) as these are a waste of my time. Of course, this movie's only 90 minutes, which may be its sole saving grace.