Review: "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist"

I don't consider it a "critic no-no" to respond to a movie, or any work of art, subjectively, from a personal point of view: in fact, you directly point out what you feel are the flaws of the film while recognizing that, at an individual level, it spoke to you in a way that some other film might not.

As the son of an airline pilot, the Airport movies of the 1970s speak to me differently than they might to somebody else: yes, I can enjoy them on their camp level, but I can also look at Jack Lemmon (in Airport '77) or George Kennedy (in all the films) and think, my Dad was just like those men, and it takes me back.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is the first movie of the fall that is truly a "can't wait to see" flick for me; I'm way out of the age-range for the film's demographic, but a great director (Peter Sollet helmed the fantastic Raising Victor Vargas), a top-notch cast and the inclusion of strong gay supporting characters will have me first in line. That it's also getting very good reviews is icing.

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Welcome to the new world! It sounds like it's already reached New York (and undoubtedly other places), and will be coming soon to a hometown near you!

http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/10/03/movies/03play.html?ref=movies Interesting review that contrasts shaprly with yours. I'm sure many will cheer to its gay-inclusiveness. But many will want more than that from their movie. Fascinating, as only a few years ago gay-anything-whatsoeever was as rare as hen's teeth. Can well understand a personal "this is the world I know" reaction. I feel the same way about Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train -- in which gay and straight characters also fluidly intermingle.

But according to the movie's website, Aaron Yoo's character is "Thom."

This movie has gotten mostly tepid to some downright bad notices by reviewers on the west coast, including people you think would be glowing on it, like the local alternative press herein LA. Many of them thought it was trying to hard to push its indie cred, from the music, to the locations, to what several referred to as very brief cameos (blink and you miss them) - and I'd hate to say that the gay characters may have simply been a well-intentioned aspect of that. I will likely check this movie out on DVD when its available for rental. My one critique of this review is that it reads far to much as the reviewer is encouraging his readers to go check out the movie due to the gay inclusiveness and his own nostaligia for the movies familiarity with his past. Personally, those aren't reasons enough to recommend this (or any other movie) from this or any other reviewer.

A cinematic masterpiece? No. But charming and delightful? Absolutely. It's a modern-day fairy tale and a love letter to Manhattan nightlife. Michael Cera couldn't be more adorable, and he has incredible chemistry with Kat Dennings. And bravo to director Peter Sollett and screenwriter Lorene Scafaria for giving us a movie with a straight hero who has close gay bandmates (who essentially act as his Cupid). One of them, Dev (played by hottie Rafi Gavron), gets his own boy toy (Jonathan B. Wright from Broadway's ''Spring Awakening''), and the other, Thom (Aaron Yoo), is a rarity: a gay guy who's Asian and NOT a nerd. How refreshing, too, to come across a teen movie that doesn't include any gay bashing, outing or name calling (''fag!''). If there's any quibbles, I wish Dev and Lethario got to kiss. And that Thom got his own date. Other than that, I really enjoyed it and might see it again.

Granted, I'm a bit closer to the age range of the target audience, at least maturity wise, if not age wise.

Anyway, I enjoyed the film. Is it the greatest movie ever? No, but I found a lot to like about it. Granted, I'm a big music fan so this film had a lot going for it from the beginning. I liked that it was gay-inclusive, even if Dev and Thom acted a bit like "fairy godfathers" as they said. It was clear that they really cared about Nick though and I thought, "Wow, I hope someday my friends do something like this for me..."

"And I'm sorry, but fairytale or no, parking in downtown Manhattan is NEVER as easy as they make it out to be here."

I'm glad someone else noticed this. I was watching them travel from place to place, I noticed they never seemed to have trouble finding a parking place, including right in front of at least one club! In what universe is there EVER an open parking spot in front of a club?! Somehow, this didn't distract me too much from the movie, and in fact I found some amusement from it, but still...

"And as for Thom and Dev, they're cuteness personified ... particularly Rafi Gavron, whose punk rock performance early in the film will win him plenty of gay fans (as it does in the film)."

Oh yeah, I definately have a little crush on Rafi Gavron after this film. He was so adorable. I'd love to see a spin off film with his character, Lothario, and Thom having their own mis-adventures, with maybe Thom finding someone too. And if they can work in Nick and Norah too, I'd love to see those two again as well. In the end, I found "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" to be a sweet, fun diversion and is certainly one of the better teen film offerings since the John Hughes films. I would definately recommend it.

Like others have said, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is a "fairy tale," a teen rom-com that nevertheless rises above the flotsam and jetsam of the genre to emerge as a smart and sassy, warm and wonderful confection that I loved from beginning to end.

In a way, I think the movie is already being underrated--this kind of film is so difficult to pull off, but Nick and Norah has such a generosity of spirit, thanks to director Peter Sollett's clear affection for the characters and the all-around marvelous cast (especially the uproariously hilarious Ari Graynor), that seems lighter than it actually is. (Kudos also to film editor Myron Kerstein, who keeps the flick moving along at a brisk, but never hurried, pace--a textbook example of how to cut a comedy of this caliber--he also did the fantastic editing for the comedically similar In Good Company).

As for the gay angle, I loved how close Nick was to Thom and Dev, how everybody treated them as equals, that they were one among many--Thom, Dev and Lothario were just regular guys, two of them falling in love with each other. And, yeah, Gavron's performance of "Screw the Man" totally made me fall for him--just for kicks, I'd love it if the song were nominated for the Oscar, if only to see Gavron perform it on the stage of the Kodak Theater before billions of viewers! Wouldn't that be a kick!

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saw the movie and the only thought i left with was "i would hate to be that piece of gum..." :-P

be sure to seek out a DVD of Breaking and Entering. It was Anthony Minghella's last film and dumped rather unceremoniously on the U.S. Market as if it were nothing. He plays Juliette Binoche's thieving son who breaks into an elaborate art and architecture studio owned by Jude Law and steals Law's laptop to wreck further havoc. It's a very interesting film about haves, have-nots, marginals and Big Deals (ie. Jude) in London, and Rafi is Sex on a Stick.

I'm definitely excited to see this one! I've read the book and they appear to have cut out Thom's "emo" boyfriend I think he was described as...It sounds like the movie has the same problems the book had with the not enough plot bit. But I'm happy they kept in the bit about holding hands because that was definitely my favourite scene in the book. I just hope I won't have to wait for it to come out on DVD to watch it here in Generic-Smalltown, Canada.

I can't believe I missed this movie, reading about it almost make me feel like we are finally entering the 21th century. Almost.

 

 Well, I don't think it's a critic no-no to share your personal feelings about the movie. That is actually the kind of thing I want from a critic and no matter what everyone may say, a critic upon a work of art will never be truly objective.

 

Heh, and to think that I only clicked because I was reminded of Nikki and Nora, the lesbian themed TV series that never was.