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Nick (Michael Cera) has a broken heart. Ever since his girlfriend, Tris (Alexis Dziena) dumped him a month ago (on his birthday), he’s been a pathetic mess.
Norah (Kat Dennings) is a loner with a famous dad. Instead of finding a life of her own, she spends most of her weekends trailing behind her hard-partying friend, Caroline (Ari Graynor), and cleaning up her messes.
One Friday night, the promise of a super-secret concert by their favorite band, Where’s Fluffy?, pulls both Nick and Norah out of their funk and into the city. After Nick and his bandmates play an early show, the two meet by chance—when, tired of being the only girl without a guy, Norah asks Nick to be her boyfriend for five minutes. Their five-minute relationship then begins a night of adventures, as the two jump into Nick’s Yugo and head out into the city in search of Where’s Fluffy?
With its standard chick flick plot and its standard teen movie characters, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist could have been just another average, run-of-the-mill, teen chick flick. Instead, it has the wit and charm of last year’s indie hit Juno, the random adventures of a Harold and Kumar road trip movie, and a cool soundtrack playing in the background.
Though Cera basically reprises his role from Juno (the quiet, sensitive musician), that’s not necessarily a bad thing. He is, after all, really good at it. You’ll quickly fall in love with poor, pathetic Nick. And though you’ll want to smack him upside the head for some of the stupid decisions he makes, if you’ve ever had your heart broken, you’ll understand him. Dennings, meanwhile, basically plays Juno—the fast-talking tough girl who has a hard time letting down her guard. But she, too, is good at it—so good, in fact, that she almost makes the character seem fresh and different.
Still, it’s the little things that make Nick and Norah a worthwhile adventure. The main characters are cute—and the supporting characters only add to the fun—but throughout this romantic-teen-road-trip-comedy, Nick and Norah’s random exploits keep things interesting. As they’re wandering around the city in Nick’s yellow Yugo, they make plenty of interesting stops along the way. Although it’s not exactly an action-packed movie, it’s an entertaining one nonetheless—and it’s easy to get caught up in the story as you join the characters on their adventure.
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist isn’t an outrageously hilarious comedy, and it’s not without its flaws (like a couple of totally unnecessary gross-out gags). But this fun and easy-going film about a night out in the city is easily the most lovable teen comedy of the year. Feel free to hop on in and enjoy the ride.
