My friends have varying opinions when it comes to flicks. When one of my buddies caught an advanced screening in New York, he said it was alright but not good enough to spend money on. One of my other friends loved it and claimed I would feel the same. I finally have seen Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. I see where my first friend didn't like it but where my second friend thought it was good. Some people are pegging it as the next American Graffiti. I wouldn't go so far as to say that, but I think it's still better than most of the romantic comedies that.
A group of Jersey kids head into the big city to catch a concert held by a band that's harder to find than a grounded character in a Kafka novel. It serves as an underlying subplot to keep everybody moving throughout lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. There's the usual stock cast of characters that come with a romantic teen comedy, but they work well. I guess the biggest issue with the characters is that, for the most part, they don't get a whole lot of development. There's time spent on Nick and Norah enough, but I wouldn't mind learning a bit more about their friends.
Michael Cera as usual is good at playing the awkward kid and Kat Dennings the sardonic girl. There aren't a lot of conventions being broken. On the up side, the actors fit their roles well. In between there's enough quirky humor and weird places to keep you interested. It is the Village afterall. I think the biggest thing that bugged me was, even though music played a sizable role, it wasn't as prevalent as I was thinking it would be as the story played out. If they were going for American Graffiti, a lot more musically cued scenes would help.
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is a good all-around flick. It's not breaking any rules or pushing any envelopes. It's funny, enjoyable, and it's not preaching to you about anything. It definitely comes out of the fire better than most of the usual crap Holllywood will put out. I think the general public set a high bar when Juno made some money as far as guaging smaller flicks. They aren't all going to be oscar winners, but the more individual care allows them to feel a little more like a good vinyl album instead of a much cheaper digital download.