Saturday, October 04, 2008
Movie Reviews: NICK AND NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST
IN THEATERS
NICK AND NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST
Nick (Michael Cera) frequents New York's indie rock scene nursing a broken heart and a vague ability to play the bass. Norah (Kat Dennings) is questioning pretty much all of her assumptions about the world. Though they have nothing in common except for their taste in music, their chance encounter leads to an all-night quest to find a legendary band's secret show and ends up becoming the first date in a romance that could change both their lives.Read More
Cast: Michael Cera, Kat Dennings, Alexis Dziena, Ari Graynor, Aaron Yoo, Jay Baruchel
Director: Peter Sollett
Opens today October 3, 2008
Runtime: 1 hr. 30 min.
Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material including teen drinking, sexuality, language and crude behavior
Genres: Teen Movie, Comedy
Review:
There are certain films that posses a certain rhythm to them that makes them stand out from a plethora of similar films. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is a formula movie at its base but its rhythm and atmosphere make it something that all romantic comedies should aspire to be instead of the drivel that's usually spun out. Director Peter Sollett gives his film life by creating a world with a pulse and characters that feel authentic. His film is a musical odyssey set against an urban landscape. Sollett shoots some wonderful shots giving some scenes an almost surreal travelogue of New York's endless night life. The leads are both instantly likable and both Cera and Dennings do what they do best, play characters on the fringe of cool mixed with enough authentic awkwardness to make them believable. Michael Cera's performance may appear similar to his past films but they are becoming more and more nuanced. Kat Dennings is equally effective providing a good mirror for Cera in both character and performer. Both are excellent throughout and thoroughly enduring. The supporting characters from Ari Graynor, who has a great time as the ditzy drunken party animal, to Alexis Dziena, playing Nick's vindictive ex, are top notch. Then there's still Nick's gay band mates played by Aaron Yoo & Rafi Gavron who in a lesser movie would have been written and played as cliché, here they are naturalistic and real, the fact that they are gay isn't played for laughs. It's a great example of the organic nature of the film and its youthful bravado. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is a slow burn of a film that sophisticated enough to let events and actions unfurl naturally, as a result you have a very familiar story feel incredibly fresh and new.
A
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