At first glance it is incredibly easy to see why so many people turned their noses up at a film like Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist. For all intents and purposes it is a hipster love story, a love letter to the New York music scene that throws rapid-fire music references at you that either connect with your tastes or leave you in the dust, puzzling over what the hell a Vampire Weekend is.

It's the story of an adorable music-obsessed emo kid who is the only straight member of an all gay bad who meets the tough-talking, I'm-too-cool-for-you rebel outsider. The rebellious girl also happens to be the daughter of one of the hippest record producers in NYC. Together these two proceed to travel around town to find a super-secret live show of a legendary underground hipster band so hip you've probably never even heard of them. On the surface it's a film entirely about a lifestyle -- a lifestyle so in its place and time that it didn't exist five years ago and won't exist five years from now. Like disco before it, and grunge and punk and ska and swing, this film focuses upon an era that will soon pass us by. And people recognize that.

The problem is that Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist is much smarter than it lets on. It very cleverly and subtly lampoons this underground music culture as it slowly strips away all the tropes and reveals to us who Nick and Norah really are. You see, both of these kids are posers. Sure, they know the scene -- and they are, in fact, THE SCENE -- but they're just pretending. Neither is half as cool as they are posturing themselves to be, and they each recognize that about each other right at the get-go. Since they are forced together, each eventually lets their guard down and slowly gets to know the person behind the uniform ... and they begin to realize they were pretty much made for one another.

The result in an incredibly sweet, fun little romantic adventure that evokes shades of High Fidelity, SLC Punk and Swingers. Michael Cera plays the nerdy emo Nick, while Kat Dennings plays the princess born to cool royalty, although she doesn't consider herself cool. They have a chemistry that makes you believe their initial disdain as well as their eventual and inevitable falling in love. Backed by a solid hipster soundtrack and including a handful of cameos, the film seems to slightly miss its younger audience and instead hits squarely on an older crowd that remembers their partying days, as opposed to those still living them.

The DVD comes with a number of special features, though with sadly few bright spots. There's a collection of deleted "scenes," which are mostly additional takes of scenes already in the film or simply slightly longer versions. There are only two completely original scenes and a few new moments that revolve around Norah receiving demos all night from strangers who recognize her. There's a music video, a 4-minute "video diary," and an outtakes-and-bloopers reel -- none of which delivers much worth watching.

There is, however, one shining moment on the disc: a five-minute "puppet" show by actress Kat Dennings in which she takes paper dolls of all the characters in the movie and reinterprets scenes. Strangely, she does kind of nail the movie while making fun of it at the same time in an endearing way that made me want to watch the movie all over again. It is a rare, unique, hilarious feature, unlike anything you've seen before and one which excuses every other mediocre special feature on the disc.

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist is available now from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, and is well worth checking out -- when you're looking for a night in, that is.

Recommend (0)

|  Comments (0)

|  Email

|  Share

Share  Facebook Digg del.icio.us