Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist

Based on the novel of the same name by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist owes a lot to the Juno school of thought and runs largely as a pretentious and hokey teen rom-com. It is the type of movie that seems very concerned with its own cleverness, a sort of ostentatious snoozer that aims to get by on contrived charm and “in” references to hip bands.

Directed by Peter Sollett, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist owes a lot to the teen all-nighter movies that showcase a world of no rules fun, flowing alcohol and hot clubs that gobs of unknown band geeks hang out in. Sollett’s picture takes place in New York City, revolving around a group of hip teens with mix CDs and bands and whatever else their stereotypes require to guide them through the evening and into the early morning hours.

Michael Cera, who’s starting to sadly become a bit of a one-note kid, stars as Nick and he’s a New Jersey teen in a band. He’s just had his heart broken by his girlfriend, Tris (Alexis Dziena), and needs to be convinced by his homosexual friends to get off his duff and get out there for a night on the town. His friends, who are also his bandmates in The Jerk-Offs, want to go see a favourite band known as Where’s Fluffy?. The band is playing at a secret location.

Meanwhile, Norah (Kat Dennings) is also out on the town with her drunken friend Caroline, (Ari Graynor). They go to the same high school as Nick’s girlfriend Tris, so they’re aware of her and aren’t big fans. Tris shows Norah and Carolina a mix CD that Nick created and mockingly tosses it, leaving Norah feeling sorry for the poor sap and listening to his assembled selection of songs. Smitten, a series of events are put into place to have Nick and Norah get together. Complications are aplenty, of course, but in the end love prevails as it always does in New York City.

The whole thing is very “teeny,” with ample emotional juice being drawn out of some truly bland locales. The characters never really get off the ground, despite matching up with all of the right stereotypes, and Cera and Dennings never quite succeed as a couple. They do, however, succeed as individuals and that’s where Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist finally wins some points. Dennings is the best part of the picture, looking like a young Rose McGowan and playing her part with ease.

Cera, on the other hand, does what’s called for but never really proves much range. There’s little depth to his character beyond the prescribed emo-ness, leaving the actor playing the same basic note he’s been playing since we first saw him. At times, Sollett’s picture seems aimed squarely at reproducing Juno and Cera is only too happy to play the same part to get the job done.

What keeps Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist from getting off the ground isn’t just the lack of a believable couple, however. The entire tone of the movie lacks humour, despite some attempts at comedic setups. Instead, it has a sort of “pathetic” feel. Every main character is sort of sad, with each one’s sob story destined to beat out the previous one. These spoiled, relatively well-off white kids do little to generate actual interest in their plight and the movie suffers on the whole.

As if the tedium wasn’t enough, there’s also a particularly nasty and unnecessary scene with a vomit fixation that isn’t particularly thrilling. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist feels infinite, stretching its all-night journey through New York City into an epic encounter with every “it” factor in the book until the pretentiousness and showiness simply gets overbearing. It’s sad, too, because Dennings is really something.

Trailer: