No end to Playlist’s pandering
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist a film adaptation of Rachel Cohn and David Levithan’s young adult novel of the same name attempts to give a hip update to the teen romance genre. Michael Cera plays Nick a down-on-his-luck music-obsessed high school student who can’t get over his ex-girlfriend. Norah played by Kat Dennings is a sharp equally music-obsessed teen who falls for Nick via found copies of his homemade mix CDs. The two meet by chance and end up spending a long night together driving around New York in search of a secret show being put on by their favourite band. All the while they listen to a lot of music including Vampire Weekend Shout Out Louds The Dead 60s and Devendra Banhart (who even makes a brief appearance in the film).
The film is certain to draw comparisons to 2007’s Juno based on its shared male star and similar “indie” esthetic. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist is less genuine however and its attempts at hipness are ultimately self-defeating. To anyone outside of its target audience of young fledgling hipsters the film comes off as carefully marketed and insincere right down to Nick’s “Boys Don’t Cry” ringtone.
That said Nick and Norah at least superficially diverges from standard teen romantic comedy fare. Cera is as cute as ever as Nick and his presence saves the film from becoming completely lost in teen movie formula. Kat Dennings is a similarly smart choice as Norah. Still this is a film designed explicitly with a narrow target market in mind. If you’re not in it you’d do well to pass.
