Giggles and snorts. Wide-eyed stares. Warnings that I’d be watching Juno all over again. That’s what I was greeted with at the latest tableau staff meeting when I pitched writing a movie review on Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, which sneak-previewed last week in Newcomb Theater. In reality, my colleagues — most of whom probably have Ellen Page dartboards nailed to their walls — were justified in comparing Playlist to Juno. Both movies are about the bubblings of awkward teen romance, replete with off-the-wall characters and sick indie soundtracks. But that’s where the similarities end. To put it simply, Playlist is funnier, more genuine and much more relatable than Juno.
Nick (Michael Cera) is a bassist in a band named The Jerk Offs and is reeling from a recent breakup with hot pocket Tris (Alexis Dziena). He’s an outcast, his two best friends/bandmates are gay, and — oh yeah, since we are dealing with Michael Cera here — he’s really awkward. Norah (Kat Dennings) has a dad who’s a power player in the music business, so it’s no surprise she marches to the beat of her own drum. She goes to a private school with none other than man-eater Tris and secretly steals the various post-breakup mix tapes Nick made for Tris in a futile attempt to win her back. Norah’s also an awkward outcast, and her best friend Caroline (Ari Graynor) is a wild alcoholic. Got all that?
Sure, it’s an interesting cast of characters — typical of “the little indie movie that could,” as well as your average teenage-centric cinematic romp. But director Peter Sollett handles these characters with a delicate ease; he doesn’t exaggerate their quirky tendencies. Remember, I said the film felt real, unlike facetious images of the high school social scene we get from Juno. Cera and Dennings have clumsy adolescent chemistry nailed to a T, and Graynor steals the show as the drunken best friend that we all know, love and hate to take care of.
What really sets Playlist apart, however, is the setting: New York City. It’s a modern-day Sixteen Candles or Breakfast Club, but this go-around the kids aren’t limited by the trappings of a small town. Instead of spending their Saturday in a high school library, the film’s entire premise begins with the whole crew making plans to go into the city to find the secret location of hit band Where’s Fluffy?. Similarly, it is through The Jerk Offs’ rising career that Nick (the band’s bassist) and Norah (a one-time audience member) meet for the first time and the tiniest of sparks begins to ignite.
It’s the Big Apple and the night is young as our heroes pursue the clichéd concert of a lifetime — so it’s not surprising that what ensues is a crazy, sleepless whirlwind of debauchery and adventure. A wasted best friend gets lost in the city, a jealous ex-girlfriend tries to seduce her old beau and the burning question “Where can we find Where’s Fluffy?” permeates everybody’s mind. Factor in the side stories and the movie gets even better. Like when Nick’s banged-up, ancient yellow Yugo consistently gets mistaken for a taxi. Or when the characters meet a gay guy named Lethario who makes some of the best facial expressions known to man. Or a piece of gum that ends up in a clogged train station toilet and, eventually, three different characters’ mouths.
I went into the sneak preview of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist with modest expectations — I didn’t know too much about the plot or the actors, and my fellow tableau-ers had me thinking it might be just a replica of indie movies from yesteryear. But now I predict it will be a sleeper hit of the fall. It’s hilarious, poignant, smart and Michael Cera stars: four elements of a successful indie.
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