Nick & Norah's Interminable Movie

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist is the longest movie I've ever seen in which nothing ever really happens. The premise is that Nick (Michael Cera) got dumped and is very, very sad, so he makes his ex mixed cds, which, of course, she does not appreciate so she throws away. Norah (Kat Dennings), however, rescues them from the trash and adores them, although she has never met Nick. Nick and his band play a show in New York City, at which his ex turns up with a new guy. Norah also turns up, and, in trying to prove she's not a lonely loser to Nick's ex, asks Nick (who, we recall, she doesn't know) to pretend to be her boyfriend.

And then there's this crappy alternapop band that is playing a secret show in the city, and Nick and Norah happen to be their biggest fans! So they go on the hunt for the show, but, Norah dumped her drunk friend on Nick's gay bandmates, who subsequently lost the friend, so everyone ends up hunting for the friend rather than the show. And everyone predictably falls in love.

I was actually really disappointed in this movie, because I thought it would be a good film, or at least have a good soundtrack. While the title of the film refers to an "infinite playlist," if you want to see a movie where music is actually important to the characters, rent High Fidelity. I was also excited to see Kat Dennings in the film, since she was so fantastic as the absolute caricature of a militant revivalist feminist women's studies major in The House Bunny, as well as playing a neatly layered character in Charlie Bartlett. However, her morose too-cool-for-the-world portrayal of the character in this film just falls flat. And, she trashes The Cure, not for their music, but for their name, which is a 100% asinine thing to do. Michael Cera, however, clearly subscribes to the Samuel L. Jackson school of acting where you find one character you can play and play it in every film. However, while Samuel L. Jackson can play the angry black man until he dies, Cera only has about 5 more years of being able to play the awkward teen with hipster leanings. Which means he'll either have to grow as an actor, or we'll see him as part of our Adopt a Celebrity Has-Been program.

The film is not without its high points. Um...Nick's ringtone on his cell phone is Boys Don't Cry by The Cure. Yep, that's it.

So, it's not really that the film is bad, so much as predictable, dull and forgettable. If you see it, please be aware of the risk of developing narcolepsy. Zzzzzzzzz...