Ever since Gidget and Moondoggie did the twist back in the 1950s and 1960s, Hollywood has been aware that teens love rock and roll, raucous good times and romance in their movies. Thus, a profitable genre was born and few films ever strayed too far from the mold. “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” directed by Peter Sollett (“Raising Victor Vargas”), is no different.
Based on the popular novel by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, “Nick & Norah” stars Michael Cera (“Juno,” “Superbad”) as Nick, a bassist whose shallow and popular girlfriend Tris (Alexis Dziena, “Fool’s Gold”) has just dumped him. Norah (Kat Dennings, “The House Bunny,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”) is a record producer’s daughter who attends the same school as Tris and fishes the mix CDs that Nick makes for his former girlfriend out of the trash can where she unceremoniously deposits them.
Naturally, the two meet up at a club where Nick’s band, The Jerk Offs, is performing and the night takes off on a wild tangent. The characters embark on unbelievable adventures including searching for their lost, drunk friend Caroline (Ari Graynor), keeping Norah away from her scheming ex-boyfriend (Jay Baruchel, “Tropic Thunder,” “Knocked Up”), keeping Nick away from Tris, and looking for the site of a secret concert to be performed by a fictional legendary band, Where’s Fluffy.
While “Nick & Norah” has its charming moments and even some where you just have to laugh out loud, it’s mostly a predictable feature length advertisement for today’s popular bands. The film pimps out bands like Vampire Weekend, We Are Scientists, and Bishop Allen to the point where you’d rather just buy the soundtrack than have to watch the movie again, listening to the characters tell you how great they are. Of course, that’s probably the point.
Still, Cera doesn’t disappoint as he plays the same awkward and quietly hilarious character that he is known for. Dennings is appealing as Norah, but the real standout cast member is Graynor as the perpetually inebriated Caroline. Her dialogue and casual exchanges with random strangers were the highlight of the film.
Though its portrayal of casual underage drinking and sexual activity is a disturbing message for America’s youth, “Nick & Norah” should be praised for being one of the first mainstream films to portray homosexual characters in a non-stereotypical light. Nick’s bandmates, Thom (Aaron Yoo, “21”) and Dev (Rafi Gavron) are both gay-but neither character is written as an offensive stereotype. Their dialogue is clever and their characters are the most likable in the film. For the first time, a teen film depicts gay characters as two interesting people who just happen to be gay, as opposed to characters whose homosexuality defines them.
Aside from that, there are no surprises in “Nick & Norah.” It’s a generally fun, but predictable film that advertises more than it tells a worthwhile story. Teens ages 15 to 18 will love it, but it might be a little young for the rest. We’ve seen better examples of a teen film and there will be better examples in the future.
