I went to see NICK AND NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST this evening.
First of all let me say that I love this guy...
Michael Cera is a comedic genius. He was one of my favorite actors in the extremely talented cast of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT. He had a wonderful year in 2007 with SUPERBAD and JUNO... and has a wonderful web series with friend Clark Duke (see link at the bottom of this post.)
Second of all, I read the book earlier this year and LOVED it and immediately wanted to read everything I could by the authors. (More on that in an upcoming post... because I could go on and on!!)
Third-ly... the soundtrack features music by Vampire Weekend, and the movie had cameos by Andy Samberg, Seth Meyers, and it features Spring Awakening actor Jonathan B Wright.
So walking into the theater I was trying to lower my expectations so I would not be disappointed by the film...
...unfortunately I was!
The film had some nice moments and Michael Cera was funny in his adorable/awkward way of his, but I felt the film did not at all live up to the book.
NICK AND NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST (the novel) is co-written by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. The chapters alternate in point of view between the two potential love interests with Rachel writing Norah's chapters and David writing Nick's. This is a large part of the charm. You can experience as a reader that these two are trying to get over unhealthy ex's and that both have a fear of falling in love with the other.
The plot is basically a one night courtship through their love of music. Think "Before Sunset meets High Fidelity." This is what I LOVE about the book. The two bond over their passion for music.
I felt the movie lost this aspect. Instead it played like a "Big Budget Studio tries to create hip JUNO-esque teen indie film." This saddened me because it really is such a tender story. I thought they threw in "schtick for schtick sake." (Try saying THAT 3 times really fast!!)
I read some reviews online tonight and a lot of critics disagree with me. But personally I would read the charming "amazing" book and see an "o.k." film adaptation later.
Sorry... NICK AND NORAH (the movie) did not Score-ah with me.
Instead I highly recommend the book and Cera's online series CLARK AND MICHAEL! (The soundtrack is great too.)
1 comment:
there were some awkward moments in this movie that were hard to get past... such as every time that gum was re-used (yuck!)
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