The disappointing film of two teens who share one night of adventure and seem to be trying too hard to be Manhattan cool.
by Martha Alvarez
“Will you be my boyfriend for five minutes?” was the question that brought Nick and Norah together.
These two Manhattan teens were living completely opposite lives until that question came up. Nick (Michael Cera, Juno), is a geeky music junkie obsessed with his ex-girlfriend, Tris, and the mural he has dedicated to her in his room. Norah, played by Kat Dennings (The 40 Year-Old Virgin), is a music-addicted girl who spends her time walking around the school with her iPod on at full blast. Their love for punk and indie rock ties them together throughout the story.
This movie tried a little too hard, falling short of the expectations of anyone who has read the book. Many characters were added and some taken away, making the story hard to follow and the characters seem like they are trying too hard to act like Manhattan teenagers.
The story starts out when Tris throws out a CD that Nick had given to her after their breakup. Norah runs after Tris to pick it out of the trashcan. She has listened to a couple of Nick’s CDs and is convinced that he makes the best playlist and cover art. She thinks a guy like Nick must be amazing if he cares enough to make such CDs for a girl like Tris. So, basically, Norah is in love with a stranger who is obsessed with someone else.
Nick and Norah end up meeting in a nightclub where Nick’s friends and their band “The Jerk-Off’s” are going to play. The band convinces Nick to play with them that night. There, Norah asks Nick if he will be her boyfriend for five minutes to get back at Tris for making fun of her, without realizing that this is the guy she is secretly in love with, and that he is madly in love with her enemy, Tris.
While all of this is happening, Norah’s friend, Caroline, is getting drunk with some college guys and dancing on tables. Like with any typical friend relationship, Norah has to put aside her romance with Nick to take care of her best friend. The band then agrees to take Caroline home, but they lose her in the middle of Manhattan. How do you lose someone who is sleeping in the back of a van?
Nick and Norah then end up spending the most exciting night of their lives together. They go all around Manhattan trying to find “Where’s Fluffy”, the new most wanted band in New York. Norah finds clues about where the band will be playing in a bathroom stall, and they go on their adventure from there.
Personally, I would never trust anything that a bathroom wall says, but hey, it is a movie.
Nick and Norah spent the most amazing night of their lives together, but watching this movie was a let down to my night. I would have been better off just reading the story and not having spent my time (and money) waiting in line to see such a disappointment. If you are going to watch this movie, make sure you haven’t read the book. After falling in love with the original version of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, the movie was infinitely worse.
