Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Yesterday I was having a conversation with a former professor of mine about this movie. He thought that he was just too old for a movie like this and the whole thing would just annoy him. I thought it was an interesting statement, considering my professor loves the John Cusak 1980s comedies and make no mistake, Michael Cera is John Cusak. I mean see the point of view my professor has, the movie is chalk full of this too-cool-for-school hipster attitude and a soundtrack that is equal parts charming and annoyingly indie. However, if you want to see where young Hollywood is headed this is the movie to see because Cera and Kat Dennings are the two people to watch right now.

Nick(Cera) opens the movie leaving a message for Triss(Alexis Dziena) lamenting their break up. His attempts to win her back, creating mix Cd's, is a losing cause as Triss just tosses the Cd's, but they find their way into Norah's hands. Norah(Dennings) falls in love with the mixes and through a chance encounter she makes out with Nick before finding out who he is. This sets off a chain of events that are plotted around the search for a concert from a band that rarely plays live. Nick's friends, Thom and Dev, coax Norah into hanging out with Nick and try to get Nick over Triss because Triss is an evil she-witch. With Nick and Norah in the same car, Nick cannot stop talking about Triss, without ever realizing how cool the girl in the car with him is. Norah is a solid friend, always babying her drunk mess of a friend, Caroline(Ari Graynor) and Nick and Norah have the exact same taste in music. Nick and Norah seems perfect for each other and everyone seems to know it except Nick.

Nick and Norah is a movie that is probably funnier than it should be because, Michael Cera and Kat Dennings both have exceptional comic timing and find a way to make most of their banter funny, even if you aren't sure the dialog is funny. The soundtrack, full of Vampire Weekend type bands did bug the crap out of me, but the movie is so funny and full of so much earnest cuteness it is hard to fault it. Ari Graynor as the drunk mess friend gets an insane amount of laughs and gets many points from me for not being afraid of getting down and dirty, drooling, snoring and even putting her hand in dirty toilet water. The ongoing gum joke doesn't ever lose its comedy, which is rare for jokes that last so long. Cera and Dennings make such an amazing couple you kind of hope they star in all kinds of movies together. Cera really shines, in a role that is much more brooding than his other two big roles and he proves he can carry a movie. He is on screen in just about every scene and never looks overwhelmed. He really is one to watch.

Yes, at times it feels like the movie thinks it is more clever than it really is, but I tend to like movies like that so it works for me. I like that Nick's friends are gay without it being a big deal at all. I think it says something about where we are headed in the movies. The friends didn't have to be gay, but they are and it is just accepted without them being overly stereotypically gay. That is always a nice thing to see. The jokes about Nick's yellow Yugo being a cab are a bit lame, but all the other jokes about the Yugo hit pretty well for nice laughs. There is something here for anyone as the girls swoon over Cera's ridiculous sweetness and the guys have a handful of beautiful women to look at and the humor itself transcends gender. There is nothing particularly new about what happens in the movie, but it manages to seem fresh for the most part and I appreciated that about it.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist will not win any awards and it isn't even one of the funniest movies of the year, but it rises above so many romantic comedies revolving around young people because it actually got good actors to fill the roles. It sets the two stars on a nice path for stardom and really sets Cera up as the John Cusak of this new generation, which is never a bad thing to be.

Final Grade: B