It is very easy for a young romance movie and to fall flat on itself. When it comes down to it, it is truly about convincing the audience that it is legitimate. Fortunately, that is exactly what Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist is able to do so well. Current “king of awkward,” Michael Cera and the adorable uprising Kat Dennings do a fantastic job of presenting an unconventional romantic comedy.
Cera’s Nick is the straight one-third of a queer indie rock band. He is introduced as a hopelessly heartbroken mopester still clinging onto the shallow Tris (Alexis Dzenia) by sending her mix CDs. Norah, the “Jewish-American princess of a record ccompant mogul,” swipes the discarded mixes and has an unknown admiration for Nick. As it will turn out, they know of each other peripherally through Tris.
They meet each other at one of Nick’s shows as Norah tries to show she’s not alone by kissing Nick. Hoping Norah is the right one for Nick, his band mates try to set them up throughout the night, but are somewhat foiled by the drunken shenanigans of Caroline (Ari Graynor), Norah’s friend.
As they set off in search of Caroline and their favorite band Where’s Fluffy, Cera and Dennings play off of each other incredibly well. Going into the film, it would seem Cera is playing the same character yet again, but with the strength that the character of Norah character brings, his character is boosted into something better.
These two are characters you can get a feel for and come to like. Their relationship unfolds in an anything-but-perfect way, presenting a natural feel to it all. And what works well for Cera here is acting opposite a more normal character than what has been seen in the past. In Juno, we saw him clashing with an over the top character. Here, we see something more fitting. The chemistry between Dennings and Cera is apparent and perfectly used.
But what adds even more to the film are the side characters. The band mates are not the typical near-meaningless characters that are easily overlooked. Rather, they are key characters that are put on the same level as Nick and Norah. You don’t get to see that too often so it is really nice to see something like that here. Aside from that, New York City is absolutely crucial to everything. No other setting would have worked as well.
You also have some great cameo spots sprinkled throughout the film, so be on the look out for those should you see this. And you should. It’s a cute without being cutesy. It’s a romantic comedy that doesn’t suck. And, plain and simple, it’s more than worth the time to check it out.