Rating: PG-13 | Runtime: 90 minutes
Release Date: October 3rd, 2008 (USA)
Studio: Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Releasing
Director(s): Peter Sollett
Writer(s): Lorene Scafaria / Rachel Cohn & David Levithan (novel)

Where’s Fluffy?

What do you get when you cast Michael Cera as an awkward late-teen/quasi-geek opposite a sassy, smart, attractive girl who’s a better catch then she thinks and add a killer Indie soundtrack with comedic side characters that deliver the goods? Juno. Well, maybe. But that’s not the one I’m talking about.

No, I’m teasing Peter Sollett’s follow-up to his acclaimed drama Raising Victor Vargas via a jump on today’s pretentious cool train known as the “smart” teen comedy. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival and proves to be a really good time. Maybe it’s not quite as fresh or original as one would hope, but the laughs are there and the story is fun enough to hold your attention.

The film takes place during the course of one night in New York City wherein its characters search for an elusive band’s secret gig. It’s two lost souls finding each other to discover what love is despite their preconceptions. Very reminiscent to Adventures in Babysitting due to its journey’s detours and mood rather than its story, Sollett enhances this based-on-a-book script with songs on what he called his iPod’s “five star” rotation during the post-screening Q&A. Some great work from his actors to stay realistic and keep the awkwardness of adolescence intact helps too as these young kids open up and find out who they really are.

It’s an interesting twist on a common premise. Guy gets dumped by girl and makes a series of “break-up” mixes to leave at her door with handmade packaging. His egotistical brat ex-girlfriend Tris then makes sure to carefully discarded each disc only after showing how sad Nick is to have lost such a great girl like her. Enter fringe outcast Norah to scoop those discs up and discover that their maker has her exact taste in music and may just be her soulmate despite never having met him.

That set-up inevitably leads to a chance encounter at said sadsack’s next gig with his two gay bandmates on vocals and guitar. Norah sees Nick onstage, makes a connection with him, and eventually cons her way into using him as a fake boyfriend to prove she isn’t a loser to Tris. She just doesn’t know that he’s her Nick and thus the last person to do so. The battle is on as this trio discovers what’s happening before both girls embark on a journey to win the geek over. Hollywood really makes life as a nerdy sad sack look promising.

As for the Adventures in Babysitting reference … while Nick and Norah slowly open their eyes to see how compatible they are and Tris begins her mission to win her ex back since there’s no way she can let him go from her to Norah, we also follow Caroline’s drunken stupor through the city. Known to have specific places she likes to throw-up at, Norah enlists Nick’s bandmates to help her find her lost and clueless friend while also searching to uncover the secret location of the next Where’s Fluffy? concert.

Like Elizabeth Shue’s babysitter gets into precarious circumstances her ultra-hip likability helps escape while dragging her three wards, Sollett’s cast of characters meet some interesting creatures of their own. The director spoke about how he tried to use locales from the book like the actual East Village/Lower East Side haunts he himself frequents. They needed authenticity in detail and therefore needed waitresses of equal loathing and bands that would actual play there. The look and feel is therefore genuine and believable despite the contrived plot progressions utilized to get there.

The supporting characters are a lot of fun—especially cameos from Kevin Corrigan (who does wonders without uttering a word) and Andy Samberg (a laugh riot as a homeless man Cera’s Nick stumbles upon at a church). Sollett spoke about Samberg’s willingness to improv and the multiple takes they filmed. His favorite alternate take was hilarious and probably better than what was used, but he needed to get a PG-13 rating. So, he teases that everyone should buy the future DVD edition to hopefully watch its gag reel. I’d love to see Cera’s reaction to this raunchy exchange.

The larger supporting roles are effective as well. Aaron Yoo and Rafi Gavron are fantastic as Nick’s bandmates/best friends who are trying to show him that Norah is the girl he deserves while also just having a good time being themselves (the gay comedy is never pushed into stereotypical drivel). Ari Graynor is wonderful as the inebriated Caroline to bring big laughs and a few cringes when playing off her wad of chewing gum—a character worthy of its own credit. Jay Baruchel is great too playing against type as Norah’s tough, smooth-talking semi-beau. He exudes cool and totally pulls her in despite the actor being known as the geeky sidekick in so many other films. It’s good to see him effectively branching out.

The true winner besides an amazing soundtrack with acts you will probably start hearing about once more mainstream movies use them is Norah herself: Kat Dennings. She is perfect in this role. Cute in a humble “I don’t think I am” way with a biting wit and sarcastic defensiveness. She’s the kind of girl you would fight for, but also one who won’t make it easy for you to win. Intellectual and unassuming, Norah shies from her father’s fame (you should figure out his job early enough, but I don’t want to ruin the reveal) and attempts to be an original in the vein of Juno or Jaye from “Wonderfalls”.

Dennings’ exchanges with Cera are always endearingly funny if not laugh out loud (I love when she drives his car) and, while the awkwardness is overplayed to ruin some of their chemistry, you do want them to get together by the end. Not because you know they will, but because you agree with Yoo and Gavron. She is the one for Nick and nothing should stand in the way of that. Sollett has something with this idea about breakup tapes being unwitting relationship builders via the power of music. Nick and Norah may not be as good as those it homages, but it definitely deserves a place snugly beside them.

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Tom (Aaron Yoo), Dev (Rafi Gavron) and Nick (Michael Cera) star in Screen Gems’ comedy NICK & NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST. Photo credit: JoJo Whilden.