NICK AND NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST (2008 - Cert 12A)

After my girlfriend and I finished watching this film I turned to her and said 'I really, really enjoyed that'. To which she taunted me with 'Ha ha, you like a Rom-com'.

I refuted her allegation immediately, denying that it was actually a rom-com. 'Of course it is', she responded. 'It was about two people falling for each other and it made you laugh'. She had me there. Of course it was a rom-com. If you break that title down, Rom = romantic and Com = comedy, it couldn't be anything else. The question I asked myself was, why did I protest so much? Rom-Com has become a term that is immediately sneered at, to some people it isn't even a genre, it's simply a derogatory way to describe a film. I admit I'm not the biggest fan of the field but all Rom-coms, even the one's starring Jennifer Aniston (ie all of them), do contain romance and do attempt to make audiences laugh, but why do so many fail on both counts, while Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist charmed the pants off me?



When I read the blurb I was convinced it was going to irritate me. It was about two youngsters, their friends and one night out in the Indie-world of New York as they try to track down the venue of a secret gig that their favourite band is playing. Basically all the things that annoy me about the cool part of East London (please note that this is all jealousy, I wish I was cool. But I am not. Simple as that). However the film didn't try to play up to that knowing, self-indulgent Indie vibe that is taking so many cities by storm. It recognises it, at times embraces it but at others takes the mick out of it. Not in a spoof way, not a broad way, not even in a nasty way, just like shy friendly banter.

The other thing that caused bad preconceptions was the casting of Michael Cera as Nick. I liked him in Juno, I liked him in Superbad, but by the time Scott Pilgrim came around, I was convinced that he had started to irritate me and he was on the way down. How could he keep getting away with being the same person in all his films? After this film though, I was back in Camp Cera. He doesn't do anything differently, he is still the shy, geeky, self-deprecating teen muttering funny musings quietly, but it goes back to being endearing, not annoying. My brief stint of dissatisfaction with Cera should now probably be attributed to one of the many failings of Scott Pilgrim rather than anything else.

What good is Cera if the other half of the romance is rubbish though? e Kat Dennings, who you may recognise as the teenage daughter from The 40 Year Old Virgin, is on love interest duty here. Like Cera, I really liked her performance. She had the difficult job of having to be likeable enough to make Nick (and us) fancy her a bit but also down to earth and plain enough to make her attainable. The ultimate girl next door. She manages it though, she's never irritating and makes a fully-dimensional character that keeps proceedings more than interesting.

So, the first thing you need to make a rom-com exactly that, a comedy with romance, is a central couple that the viewer likes and empathises with. The second thing that is important is the supporting cast. Its hard to have an entire film hinging completely on two people, so those supplementing the action are important. In this film we have his friends, her friends and their respective ex's. His friends are his gay mates who make up his band (The Jerk Offs) played by Aaron Yoo and Rafi Gavron. Both are funny, and have a bit of fun with being gay but don't ram any stereotypes down your throat. Her friend is played by Ari Gaynor and is a drunk who gets lost midway through the night. Her scenes contain the broadest comedy, ie puking, but the film just about gets away with it, by making the puking quite charming (honestly, it does). The ex's Alexis Dziena and Jay Baruchel are nasty and annoying enough respectively to mean we all root for their downfall.

So, a couple at the centre of it who we like, a host of supporting players to make sure everything ticks along and stays interesting. Its not enough though to guarantee that the romance and the comedy stay afloat. We need to leave the cinema or remove the DVD with a warm and fuzzy feeling, our emotions need to echo those of the leads.

Nick and Norah really pulls it off though. I think the key ingredient is the innocence that the film has. The characters are all young, but they don't seem to be too desperate to grow up and get stuck into proper relationships. The love on show here is unspoilt and naive. The closing scene in a recording studio sums the film up perfectly, essentially a sex scene, but without the sex and without seeing anything whatsoever. It's done beautifully and stays consistent to the theme of music (the film has a smashing soundtrack) that runs throughout. It's a scene that finishes with the same socially awkward shyness that is always there with both Nick and Norah and one that resulted in me choking back tears.

So the romance is there but is the comedy? Yes it is, and resoundingly so. The writing and dialogue is funny and sharp, the scrapes they all get into are funny but don't feel too forced, there is enough 'gross out' and physical humour to keep our inner kids happy. It's all there and done in a sufficiently touching way to be consistent with the tone of the film.

We've all watched rom-coms over the years, so I challenge you to think back, really rack your brains and try to think of one that contains all the elements. Two leads who you immediately like, who you empathise with, a relationship that you believe in, smaller parts that don't grate and annoy, plot twists that don't feel contrived and there for the sake of it, but most of all a heart.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is a film that perfectly sums up the teenage crush. It might not always go according to plan, but despite that it seems like the most important thing in the world and you're convinced that nothing will ever damage it. And for that moment it is both pure and perfect.

A snapshot of youth.