The awkward teenage comedy is a formula that doesn't seem to get old; it made John Hughes successful with his '80s brat pack flicks — such as "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986), "The Breakfast Club" (1985) — and continues to be redone by various modern directors. "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" is a shining example of a New-Age romantic, awkward and truly funny teenage comedy. The film is based on the book of the same name by authors Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, although most of the film follows a completely different plot line.
The film stars Michael Cera as Nick, a typical confused teenager — and member of a "queer-core" band, The Jerk Offs — who was just dumped by Tris (played by Alexis Dziena). Kat Dennings plays Norah, a school girl who has never met Nick, but already has plenty of animosity towards Tris' ego and selfishness. Nick's band mates Thom and Dev (Aaron Yoo and Rafi Gavron, respectively) convince him to stop making breakup mix tapes and go play a show with them at a local club.
At the show, Norah and her friend Caroline, as well as Tris and her new love interest Gary, are all in attendance. Tris decides to push Norah's buttons by flashing her new boy in front of her. At this point, Norah approaches Nick and asks him to be her boyfriend for five minutes simply to make Tris jealous.
The group of friends then finds out their favorite band is playing a secret show somewhere in New York City, and they must navigate through the nighttime streets to find it. Thom and Dev decide to set up Norah with Nick and leave them to travel the streets together in Nick's decrepit Yugo. The rest of the film follows the new couple as they begin to realize their connection to each other.
One of the greatest parts of the movie is its obsession with music. This can be seen in the discussions between Nick and Norah, where Norah proclaims that Nick is her "musical soul mate." The soundtrack to the film is also incredible. Indie favorites such as Devandra Banhart and Vampire Weekend lend their pipes to the stellar compilation. Vampire Weekend's track "Ottoman," an exclusive for the movie, is only available for purchase with the entire album.
Another surprising and funny part of the film is its use of celebrity cameos. A recurring joke has several drunken passersby hailing Nick's car because it looks like a taxi. At one point a drunken couple enters the car at a red light, much to Nick's dismay. Seth Meyers of "Saturday Night Live" fame is funny and provides a nice gag to break up the dialogue. Andy Samberg, also a cast member on SNL, plays a homeless man who confronts Nick and asks him "Have you ever made it with a dog, dude? I have … it's not worth it." John Cho (Harold from the "Harold and Kumar" series) and Eddie Kay Thomas (Finch in the "American Pie" series) also make brief appearances.
The film takes a cue from some of the other "indie" style, large-budget movies such as "Juno" (2007) in its quirky style and cinematography. The opening credit scene is the (now) obligatory sketched writing and crudely animated designs. The dialogue is funny, but not extremely witty; after all, the film's "gritty realism" comes from the slang and verbiage all of the characters use. Most of the film contains a running gag of gross out humor. This type of comedy seems to be infiltrating every sort of comedy that is being released these days (see the review for "Sex Drive" next week).
Overall, the cast, director and screenwriters did a good job of taking the idea from the book and molding a film that will appeal to a wide range of audiences. The talented duo of Cera and Dennings, entertaining cameo appearances and outstanding soundtrack make this film one of the best teen comedies of the past few years.
