Spring Break
Nick and Norah's infinite stupidity
Hal Flowers
Issue date: 11/5/08 Section: Entertainment
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist evokes an abundance of intense emotions- namely, boredom at its horribly contrived situations and dialogue, tension at the campy exchanges of meaningless lines, and anxiety at the future of feature films in general. The movie rides like an elephant on the back of its brilliant predecessor Juno and fails precisely where the latter prevailed.
Where Juno's soundtrack beautifully underscored the movie, prompting the sale of over 500,000 copies of the soundtrack, Nick and Norah places its music on a pedestal, forcing it into a grossly inflated role as the focus of the movie. It'll be a miracle if the soundtrack doesn't sell better than the movie itself. Where Juno centered on the engaging and relevant topic of teen pregnancy, Nick and Norah focuses on… well, nothing. And where Juno owed much of its success to a witty and fast-paced screenplay, Nick and Norah boasts a sophomoric script where lines like "I met Jesus. He's much taller in person" take center stage and fleeting references to rock bands scrape the surface of profundity.
The rather tame plot follows Nick (Michael Cera) and Norah (Kat Jennings) on what the trailers dubbed a night "with infinite possibilities," but which actually amounts to a pretty average Friday night for most Manhattanites. Nick, a timid and sensitive bassist for punk rock band The Jerk Offs, meets Norah, the straight edge daughter of the Electric Lady Studio's owner, after his show. When she poses as his girlfriend, and his ex-lover Tris (Alexis Deziena) decides she wants Nick back, all events worth mentioning have transpired. Oh and there's the slow-paced, awkward, and inconceivable love story suggested by the movie's title.
About a third of the way through, the subplots have exhausted their options and the movie, like the bewildered jaywalking squirrel I almost hit on the way to the theatre, looks desperately for new directions to turn. Norah's friend with benefits, Tal (Jay Baruchel), adds one such twist to the plot by insulting Nick and generally being a nuisance. Nick's friends, who are all gay, and Norah's friend, who is a raging alcoholic, join them as they try desperately to make it to a show by the oh-so-cutely named band Where's Fluffy? Instead of providing comic relief though, these characters are found switching in and out of horrible effeminate accents and fishing for cell-phones in vomit filled toilets, both of which are more likely to make the audience hurl with disgust than heave with laughter.
Where Juno's soundtrack beautifully underscored the movie, prompting the sale of over 500,000 copies of the soundtrack, Nick and Norah places its music on a pedestal, forcing it into a grossly inflated role as the focus of the movie. It'll be a miracle if the soundtrack doesn't sell better than the movie itself. Where Juno centered on the engaging and relevant topic of teen pregnancy, Nick and Norah focuses on… well, nothing. And where Juno owed much of its success to a witty and fast-paced screenplay, Nick and Norah boasts a sophomoric script where lines like "I met Jesus. He's much taller in person" take center stage and fleeting references to rock bands scrape the surface of profundity.
The rather tame plot follows Nick (Michael Cera) and Norah (Kat Jennings) on what the trailers dubbed a night "with infinite possibilities," but which actually amounts to a pretty average Friday night for most Manhattanites. Nick, a timid and sensitive bassist for punk rock band The Jerk Offs, meets Norah, the straight edge daughter of the Electric Lady Studio's owner, after his show. When she poses as his girlfriend, and his ex-lover Tris (Alexis Deziena) decides she wants Nick back, all events worth mentioning have transpired. Oh and there's the slow-paced, awkward, and inconceivable love story suggested by the movie's title.
About a third of the way through, the subplots have exhausted their options and the movie, like the bewildered jaywalking squirrel I almost hit on the way to the theatre, looks desperately for new directions to turn. Norah's friend with benefits, Tal (Jay Baruchel), adds one such twist to the plot by insulting Nick and generally being a nuisance. Nick's friends, who are all gay, and Norah's friend, who is a raging alcoholic, join them as they try desperately to make it to a show by the oh-so-cutely named band Where's Fluffy? Instead of providing comic relief though, these characters are found switching in and out of horrible effeminate accents and fishing for cell-phones in vomit filled toilets, both of which are more likely to make the audience hurl with disgust than heave with laughter.
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