Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
| Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Peter Sollett |
| Written by | Novel: David Levithan Rachel Cohn Screenplay: Lorene Scafaria |
| Produced by | Adam Brightman Nathan Kahane |
| Starring | Michael Cera Kat Dennings |
| Cinematography | Tom Richmond |
| Edited by | Myron I. Kerstein |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date | October 3 2008 |
Running time | 90 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $9 million |
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is a 2008 film based upon the book of the same name by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan.
Tagline: This October, press play.
Plot
 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (October 2008) |
Nick O'Leary (Michael Cera) tries to deal with his broken heart when his girlfriend, Tris (Alexis Dziena) breaks up with him. He spends his time leaving messages and making mix CD's for her. His friends/band members, Thom (Aaron Yoo) and Dev (Rafi Gavron) (both gay) convince him to leave the house and play a gig with them later that night. Norah Silverberg (Kat Dennings) is a college bound student who is best friends with Caroline (Ari Graynor). The two girls go to school with Tris, whom Norah hates. Tris shows Norah and Caroline a mix CD Nick has made for her and throws it away. Norah takes the mix CD out of the garbage and talks about how Tris doesn't appreciate the artwork of the cover and the songs on it. It turns out that Norah develops a crush on Nick even before seeing him, due to the mix CD's he had made for Tris. They all converge at the same club where Nick and his band, "The Jerk-Offs" are playing. While performing, Nick sees Tris in the audience with another guy. Norah sees Nick on stage and stares at him; Caroline notices and teases her about it. Thom and Dev meet Lethario (Jonathan B. Wright). Norah asks Nick to be her boyfriend for five minutes to show Tris she didn't come alone. Norah then kisses Nick, not knowing that Nick is Tris' ex-boyfriend, and Tris becomes jealous. Caroline becomes drunk and Norah decides to take her home. Nick's friends then attempt to set Nick and Norah up, giving Nick a pep talk, thinking it would help Nick get over Tris. They begin trying to find a rumored concert by the legendary publicity-shy indie band, "Where's Fluffy?".
While in the car Thom, Dev and Lothario discuss what to name their band and end the conversation with "Balls Deep". Caroline, waking up still drunk, becomes frightened, thinking that they are going to rape her because of the discussion and decides to run away. Nick and Norah travel around, discovering they both love the band "Where's Fluffy?". Nick brings up Tris' name, to Norah's dismay, and they decide to call it a night after having an argument. Nick gets a call from his band-mates telling him that they lost Caroline. Nick tells Norah about Caroline and they meet with the band-mates to try to find her. After no luck finding Caroline, they assume that she is already at the "Where's Fluffy?" concert. They all go to a club to see if the band and Caroline are there. Nick decides to show he is interested in Norah and starts dancing with her only to be interrupted by Norah's ex, Tal (Jay Baruchel). It turns out to be a show for another artist, "Are You Randy", and everyone leaves. While trying to find Caroline, they are followed by Tris who wants to get back with Nick. Tris tries to convince Norah that Nick isn't for her and taunts her with the knowledge of her secret that she has never had an orgasm. Tris gets a phone call from Caroline, who tells Norah that she "has found Jesus" and an altar boy without pants. Norah tells Nick and the band about the information she got from Caroline, and luckily Thom and Dev know where she is. They find Caroline on stage drunk at a gay cabaret dressed as a Christmas tree. On the way back home Nick sees Tris waiting on the hood of his Yugo and decides to confront her. Before he leaves, Norah stops him to say how nice it was to meet him. Upset, Norah calls Tal. When Norah meets up with him, she realizes that he wants to use her because her father is a music producer. Tal wants to see if his band can make a deal with Norah's father. When the check arrives for Tal and his friends' drinks, he asks Norah if she can "take care of it" because of her connections from her fathers reputation. She agrees, but instead she tells the waitress that there was a miscalculation and to add another zero to the check. As Nick confronts Tris, she shows how she wants him back and asks for a ride home. Tris askes Nick to stop by the river, where she seduces Nick to take her back by putting his hand on her breast. She seductively dances in front of the car to "You Sexy Thing" by Hot Chocolate, but as she dances Nick thinks about all the fun he had with Norah and drives away leaving her.
Nick calls Norah, apologizing for leaving, and she agrees to meet up with him again. They both decide to go somewhere no one they know will find them. Norah offers to drive, and turns out to be a reckless driver and crashes the car into a fire hydrant. They arrive at the Electric Lady Studios which are owned by her father. There Nick is fascinated at the equipment and history of the studio. Norah asks to let Nick record something in the recording room. As he sings, Norah laughs and enters the room with him. They both stare at each other for a moment then make out on the couch, where the sound equipment picks up Norah having an orgasm. She gets a text message from Caroline saying "Foumd Flufdy," [sic] so they decide to go. They arrive at the concert to find Tal and Tris already there. Tris can't understand why Nick won't take her back and Tal wants the same answer from Norah. Tal pulls Norah away from Nick. Nick and Tal start shoving each other until Lothario decides to headbutt Tal and then cries. Nick and Norah share a smile, grab each others' hand and leave. They reach Penn Station, but as they head for the train, Norah questions Nick about missing the concert, but he doesn't care and she steps towards him and they share a kiss on the escalator while going down.
Cast
- Michael Cera as Nick O'Leary
- Kat Dennings as Norah Silverberg
- Alexis Dziena as Tris
- Aaron Yoo as Thom
- Ari Graynor as Caroline
- Rafi Gavron as Dev
- Jonathan B. Wright as Lothario ("Beefy Guy")
- Jay Baruchel as Tal
- Zachary Booth as Gary
- John Cho as Hype Man
- Andy Samberg as Homeless Guy
- Seth Meyers
- Toney Chem as Are You Randy Fan
- David Levithan as himself
- Rachel Cohn as herself
Production
Filming ended in December 2007; the movie was released in the United States on October 3, 2008 by Columbia Pictures.
The film was shot almost entirely on scene in New York City. Sections were filmed in Williamsburg, Brooklyn at Union Pool, as well as Don Hill's in TriBeCa. Additional filming took place in Manhattan's Lower East Side and East Village.
The movie took 29 days to film and was shot entirely at night, with the actors working from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. and sleeping through the daylight hours in order to keep themselves active at night.
Reception
Based on 116 reviews collected from Rotten Tomatoes, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist has an overall approval rating of 72 percent, with a weighted average score of 6.6/10.[1] Among Rotten Tomatoes' Cream of the Crop, which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs,[2] the film holds an overall approval rating of 83 percent.[3] Roger Ebert, however, gave the film only a two-star rating.[4]
References
- ^ "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
- ^ "Rotten Tomatoes FAQ: What is Cream of the Crop". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
- ^ "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist: Rotten Tomatoes' Cream of the Crop". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
- ^ "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews". Roger Ebert. Retrieved 2008-10-05.