Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008)

Nick (Michael Cera) is a high school guy who is infatuated with an ex-girlfriend, Tris (Alexis Dziena). He keeps trying to win her back by making mix-tapes and she keeps tossing them. One of her high school friends, Norah (Kat Dennings), keeps retrieving them and wondering why Tris won't have anything to do with a guy who could make such an awesome mix-tape. Tris ruthlessly teases Norah about not having a boyfriend so Norah lies and says she does have a boyfriend. She grabs the nearest guy at the time and tells him to act like her boyfriend. Unfortunately, she grabs Nick, Tris's ex. Thrown together in a strange circumstance, they end up spending all evening trying to find a band they both love as well as locate Norah's drunk best friend, Caroline (Ari Graynor) who has gone MIA.

Kat Dennings and Michael Cera

I read and re-read that synopsis and I swear it doesn't sound that interesting. I must tell you though that this was such a funny, sweet and adorable movie. It kinda reminded me of "Say Anything" without all the tension and drama. I think it is because of the theme of music as a secondary character in both movies and also because Kat Dennings could totally be Ione Skye and Michael Cera could totally be John Cusack. It is a great little film without the raunchiness of a lot of recent comedies, but also not sappy as most chick flicks. It is just a lot of fun.

As for the performances, all of the performances were great. Michael Cera is just so totally adorable and Kat Dennings is perfect as a beauty with brains that somehow guys don't seem to see how awesome she is. I don't know how anyone could miss that. All the secondary characters are great as well, especially Ari Graynor as the drunk girl. They all work to make the movie more interesting.

Personally, I loved seeing mix tapes still being used as a relationship tool as portrayed in this movie. Now, the younger generation has their fancy iTunes and it is easy to make a mix tape, er CD. They don't even have to work hard to produce one. Even though they have it easy, I am STILL glad to see it in use. :-) I can't be the only one with a serious love for this? Right? There was such an art to the mix tape and we all believed that if the mix tape was good enough, it would surely convey all our love to the recipient and they would have no choice but to love us back. *sigh* Follies of youth. I loved the nostalgia the film gave me.

Some of my favorite quotes are as follows:

Tris tormenting Norah, "You could totally have better luck with college guys. That's when guys really get into stuff like how smart a girl is, you know? It's not all about looks."

Thom, Nick's friend, pulls Norah into the van and gives her an underwire bra so she can change out of the sports bra the she is wearing for some inexplicable reason. He says, "Nicky is definitely worth the underwire."

There wasn't anything that I didn't enjoy about this movie. The script was comical, all the actors were great and it was very entertaining. I loved the use of "Nick and Norah" for the names, even if Norah wasn't spelt correctly. :-) Of course, there were a few parts that I had a hard time believing, like Caroline not using her cell phone to try to call for help. Or that a high school boy would walk away from a hot girl like Tris when she is doing a sexy dance for him. Horomones would have shut his brain down quicker than he could have said "Norah". Those few areas where suspension of disbelief didn't work certainly didn't hurt the film though. I highly recommend it when you are in the mood for something light and funny. It is definitely a fun one.