Some movies just fade from the screen when they are through, but Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist transcends that as its radiant truth and naturalistic approach cuts deep through our toughest layer of skin. The characters jump off the screen and beg us to hug them. They don’t have to ask twice. There hasn't been a movie like this since Almost Famous captivated our emotions in 2000. Each film has similar main characters: a boy who is normal in appearance, but is thrown into a world rock stars and rich men. It’s on these characters that each film bases it's premise - simple and loveable people.

First time director Peter Sollett, adapting from a Cohn and Levithan novel, creates magic: comedy done to perfection that doubles as high-end drama. When comedy does this, it is hard to beat. Nick and Nora breaks away from the raunchy humor, raw language and vulgar sex we've come to expect from a ‘comedy.’ Yes, Sollett takes us into a movie world where sex isn’t the one thing on everyone’s mind. They just want to make another person smile.

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A cast of actors led by Michael Cera and Kat Dennings adapt so well to the landscape around them that they lose their Hollywood images. Manhattan’s night life is filled with teenagers looking for love and a good time, and twenty-year-olds waiting for a big career opportunity to come their way, but Cera and Dennings' gifts are playing normal people in a world of wannabes. They have never been better.

Every character is either in search of ecstasy, or trying to forget previous ecstasies. Cera’s Nick is trying to get over a relationship with Tris (Alexis Dziena)--a gorgeous girl who seems to be totally out of Nick’s league--while at the same time trying to win her back with mix tapes. Good luck with that. She’s so cold that she tosses them in a waste basket, only to have them found by her best friend/rival (a common combination among so many high school girls) Nora (Dennings), who has an affinity for the same music Nick loves. Dennings turns in a subtle performance here as a girl who has been used all her life as a result of her father’s success. So much so that when someone loves her for who she really is, she can’t understand it.

What follows is a single night with Tris, her new boyfriend (a robotic male model), Nora, and their alcohol-loving friend, Caroline, as they cross paths with Nick and his two gay friends. They meet at the boy’s concert taking place in a shabby club. What unfolds is as real as you’re going to get. Random love flings, a search for missing friends, looking for the venue where the best band in town is playing, and love affairs that will be fixed, broken or ignited anew; all highlighted against a soundtrack that captures the mood of a night that will shape each character forever.

An "Infinite Playlist" --a list of songs you can listen to without ever having to hit the skip button--is something that almost everyone strives to create on their own iPod. It's very difficult to do. Surprisingly, Sollett - whose only camera tricks are slow motion shots and devastating flashbacks - and his actors achieve exactly that with this movie. I didn’t want this to end. There isn’t a wrong or superfluous scene. It just flows continuously like water down a stream.

Film Rating: **** out of ****

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Comments (7)

Surprising

I have to say I'm impressed with your reaction to this movie. The previews make it look generic and like nothing we haven't already seen. Consider my curiosity piqued. Thanks for the post.

Ella , September 15, 2008

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I really love how you write the review. I've known that I'm going to like the film anyway even before I watch it simply based on the title and the movie poster (believe me it says so much). It feels like you really capture the essence of the film. Its sincerity really steals my heart.

C.G. , September 16, 2008

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i just finished reading the book and i LOVEDDDDD it

it reminds me of Before Sunrise - only more direct, maybe even lacking in eloquence but definitely honest, and with a way-better/killer soundtrack.

i hope the movie does justice to the book!

mrs. edward cullen , September 21, 2008

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Interesting review. I just wanted to mention that Peter Sollett is not a first-time director - he made a great film in 2002, Raising Victor Vargas.

Andrew , September 26, 2008

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I'm looking forward to this film...even more so now after that awesome review! I was hoping for it just to be amusing and yes, even 'cute' but it sounds like it could be more...

blearyeyedmesgirl , October 03, 2008 | url

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I must say, I was pretty impressed by Nick and Norah. Kind of generic, but it had heart.

Jeremy , October 06, 2008 | url

Nick and Nora

there were some awkward moments in this movie that were hard to get past... such as every time that gum was re-used (yuck!)

patrick , October 11, 2008 | url

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