Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - mini-review

I have always, always had a thing about high school movies. I went to high school myself in the era of John Hughes' reign -- Pretty in Pink, Breakfast Club, and of course, Sixteen Candles. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is truly a film of 2008. There are things in this film that are just presented as a matter of course, and I love it about this film. Nick's friends and bandmates are gay, and they are not the downtrodden, flaming, pathetic gay sidekick friends of movies of the past. They are the confident ones who try to steer Nick away from the girl who dumped him to Norah, the one they see he really should be with. One of my favorite scenes of the film has one gay friend dragging Norah into his van alone. He starts pulling bras from a bin, and tells her to change into one. "We're all girls here. Nick is SO worth an underwire! Let's get rid of that uni-boob!"

The other thing I noted is that the only orgasm had in this film is experienced by a girl. That was a nice little development in cinematic high school movie history. Norah's Jewishness is also just a matter of fact thing, not a joke or stereotype. Tikkun Olam, repairing the world, was discussed in a high school romance!

Michael Cera plays essentially the same nerdy sweet kid he has in every other movie and Arrested Development. My husband wondered what else he can do, but said, "That kid is going places!" My husband has never seen Superbad or Juno, so I pointed out that this kid has already been in some blockbusters! Michael Cera's shtick hasn't worn thin with me. Was John Cusack playing that many different characters early in his career? 'Nuff said.

Kat Denning as Norah was a true gem. I love her character and can't wait to see this actress' career develop. Nick and Norah are named for Nick and Nora of The Thin Man, and I loved their witty bantering and bickering. I give this film three and a half stars. Loved the music, too, that showed Nick and Norah they were soulmates. I can't believe it, but it was my husband's idea to see this movie over everything else that was out this past weekend. He really liked it, too, even though he realized he was in for a "chick flick" based on the trailers we saw before the movie started! LOL!