”
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
”
starts with a mix tape, the preferred form of communication for
awkward adolescent boys and sometimes for stunted 20-30-year-old
men.
I remember the first mix tape I ever got
– and it was really a tape, a gray Sony cassette with a boy’s
writing scrawled on the label. The boy, a member of the badminton
team on whom one of my best friends and I both had a crush, helped
me on a school video project and I mentioned I liked one of the
songs we used.
“Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings
“Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” starts with a mix tape, the preferred form of communication for awkward adolescent boys and sometimes for stunted 20-30-year-old men.
I remember the first mix tape I ever got – and it was really a tape, a gray Sony cassette with a boy’s writing scrawled on the label. The boy, a member of the badminton team on whom one of my best friends and I both had a crush, helped me on a school video project and I mentioned I liked one of the songs we used. A few days later the song had been recorded onto the tape, along with U2 and George Michael songs, and other ballads. The boy even used some high-tech recording equipment to fade in and out of each song long before computers made it possible to remix music easily from a laptop computer.
It was my first mix tape, and I imagine the boy pulling out his records and cds and painstakingly picking songs and ordering them for the tape. But I was 15, and my best friend had already called dibs, and I really didn’t get the significance of a mix tape back then.
Since then I’ve gotten quite a few mix CDs, some more meaningful than others. Nothing beats the CD a guy gave me as a congratulations on getting into graduate school. He wrote “cd for melissa” with a black permanent marker and even included a cd sleeve with the names of the songs and artists, none that I’d heard before. It contains a song by the Magnetic Fields that actually has a line about killing one’s self.
“You won’t be happy with me
But give me one more chance
You won’t be happy anyway.”
Not quite the lines to let someone know you like them. But then the mixed cd was just a perect example of the mixed signals this particular guy was partial to.
“Nick and Norah” is based on a novel by Rachel Cohn, and deals with just the type of mixed signals people give each other when a relationship begins or ends.
Nick O’Leary (Michael Cera) is very clean about the purpose of his mixed cd. He is using them to win back his ex-girlfriend Tris (Alexis Dziena). He decorates the CDs, creates cover art and sends them off to her, but all she does is ridicule him in front of her classmates at an all-girl Catholic school. Norah (Kat Dennings) and Tris do not get along, though Norah’s best friend, Caroline (Ari Graynor) is always friendly with Tris. Whenever Tris tosses a mix CD into the trash, Norah picks it out so she can add the playlist to her iPod.
“This guy is my musical soulmate,” she says, and Caroline laughs at her for falling for a guy she’s never met.
Nick’s emo pals Thom (Aaron Yoo) and Dev (Rafi Gavron) show up at his place and he refuses to go to a gig they have that night because he needs a “mental health day.” When they hear on the radio that their favorite band, “Where’s Fluffy” is having a secret gig in the city, Nick decides to go. Norah and Caroline are also out on the town in search of the undercover location.
They all end up at the same bar, where Nick’s band is performing early in the evening. Caroline is completely wasted. Norah is intrigued by Nick, but he ignores her. After his set he is distracted by the appearance of his ex-girlfriend Tris, who is there with another guy. Eventually Tris ridicules Norah for not having a boyfriend and Norah picks a random guy to be her boyfriend for the night – Nick.
Nick’s bandmates confide to Norah that they dislike Nick’s ex and they think she is perfect for him so they scheme to get the duo alone. They offer to drive home drunk Caroline while Nick and Norah search for “Where’s Fluffy” and they all promise to meet up later.
Of course all does not go as well as planned. Nick can hardly stop talking about his ex-girlfriend, and it turns out Norah has a sort of ex herself and a famous father she doesn’t like to talk about. Things go completely haywire when Tris decides she isn’t completely over Nick, and the bandmates lose the drunk girl in the city.
The movie is a fun watch, and there is even some good insight that could serve even those past our high school years. And if nothing else, it should inspire a next generation of mix tapes.
