Ok, so “The Wackness” failed at it. So, will this flick be this year’s “Juno” (and how many more years do we have to wait until the press and blogs are done saying, “this year’s ‘Juno’,” already?)
Well, if anything does have a shot at that horrible appellation, it’s this film, “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” given that “The Wackness” proved an R-Rating is a bit too much for a sweet, coming-of-age comedy at the box-office. “Juno” was PG-13, as is ‘Infinite Playlist’ which is directed by Peter Sollett, who impressed us in 2002 with his auspicious debut, “Raising Victor Vargas” (damn, six years in between films, huh?)
The film stars the world’s most adorable dork, Michael Cera, the teen prince of awkwardness and the fetching and comely Kat Dennings as two teenagers, nursing broken hearts, that fall in love during one sleepless night in New York while searching for their favorite band’s unannounced show.
Cera’s clumsy embarrassing routine should have congealed into pure shtick by now and arguably it has, but we’d defy you to find someone who’s gotten sick of it yet, the little fucker is so damn charming. And Dennings’ toothy grin is so cute it could get us arrested. This one has all the pedigree, flavor, looks and appeal necessary; their target demo is surely in hook, line and sinker already. The only thing that can fuck up the film is itself at this point.
Another bonus: we know what Mark Mothersbaugh’s been up to ever since Wes Anderson didn’t utilize him for “The Darjeeling Limited,” as the Devo magnate has scored this pic (which the soundtrack supervisors should see as a true feather in their cap). According to the trailer, bands featured in the movie include the previously reported Bishop Allen (who’s song “Middle Management” is featured in the trailer), Band of Horses, Devendra Banhart, The Raveonettes, Shout Out Louds, Vampire Weekend, Modest Mouse, The Real Tuesday Weld and We Are Scientists among others. Looks like it’s going to be an indie-rock special which is what we would’ve expected given the premise and setting of the film (the New York indie-rock club scene).
Bishop Allen actually perform in the film and so do Brooklyn electro-indie duo Project Jenny/Project Jan. Cera plays a bassist in his  band The Jerk-Offs (but whether they’re still named that and still fey in the film is anyone’s guess).
The cast is littered with many an up-and-coming teen faces Aaron Yoo, the Asian antagonist of “The Wackness,” Ari Graynor (“Veronica Mars”), Alexis Dziena (the young naked daughter in “Broken Flowers”) plus contains smaller cameos by John Cho (Harold of “Harold & Kumar”), Jay Baruchel (of the Judd Apatow family players troupe) and Seth Meyers of SNL.
And pre-warning to those that recoil and become extremely uncomfortable when “hip indie” music is referenced in films (music press haters of ‘Juno,’ Jim Derogatis, presumably Idolator), stay away from this film. It’s not meant for you (check the Magnetic Fields and Arcade Fire albums in the set design, doesn’t that make you run to the hills or what? God forbid music you like turn up in a movie, huh? Pssst, it’s no so secret, hate to break it to you).
Hopefully it’s better than “Charlie Barlett,” a teen coming-of-age comedy that also stars Dennings which we tried to watch recently and couldn’t bear it, it was so awful (and from the outset, we were interested and thought it looked charming. Wrong!).
Based on the novel of the same name written by Rachel Cohn (who answered a bunch of questions about the adaptation on her myspace page) and David Levithan, “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” is written by relatively fresh screenwriter Lorene Scafaria and due in theaters via Sony on October 3rd. The film will also have it’s North American premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in September (which we’re going to this year and eagerly hope to catch it while it’s there, if not sooner, hint!).
Download: Bishop Allen – “Middle Management” (‘Infinite Playlist’ trailer song)
