Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist: How Cute
Nick and Norah (2008)
By R.J.F.
It was one of our last outings before she became too sick to leave her house. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist was a movie that I wanted to see, and my friend Angelica obliged. The cancer had taken away her ability to do a lot of things, but picking her up for an afternoon at the movies was something she was still able to do at that time. As the credits rolled, and the lights in the theater came back on, I asked if she liked the movie. She smiled and said, “It was cute.” I could tell that she was mildly amused by the film, but wasn’t completely won over by it.
This is kind of the perfect way to describe this movie. It’s cute. The storyline is cute, the cast is cute, the ending is cute. The plot revolves around a teenage girl named Norah, who is musically obsessed with an unknown guy that keeps making CD mixes for his ex-girlfriend, who is Norah’s frenemy. The ex keeps throwing the mixes away, and Norah keeps digging them out of the trash, falling more and more in love with the creator of these CDs because of their mixes. Norah happens to accidentally meet the guy, Nick, when she asks him to pretend to be her boyfriend in order to get her frenemy off her back. Unbeknownst to Norah, the guy she just kissed is her frenemy’s ex. Throw in trying to find a drunk friend in NYC, a scavenger hunt around town looking for an elusive yet popular band, some miscommunication, puppyish jealousy, a handful of comedic scenarios, and a happy ending, and that’s the basic plot. There are way too many ins and outs in this movie to get too detailed.
The focal point is the storyline between Nick and Norah. The bridge between these characters is built when they wax poetic about bands they love as they search for Norah’s drunk friend (not the frenemy). They spend the time going from venue to venue in a verbal battle of musical wits, as well as having some heated discussions about Nick’s vapid ex, all while forming a bond and undeniable attraction. The attraction, at first, is lost on Nick because he’s pining over his ex for a majority for the movie, while Norah is obviously smitten right away. The romance aspect sounds pretty relatable for anyone who has experienced this on either end of the spectrum. How many of us have been attracted to someone that overlooked our obvious infatuations? How many of us have been stuck on an ex when a clear-cut better match has been front and center? I’m going to bet that we’ve all either personally experienced either scenario, or know someone who has.
This is what makes this movie easily relatable. Underneath the weaving, and sometimes overly complicated, plot line is a simple tale of romantic interest and potential, moving on, and moving up. There aren’t any real deep thoughts, or life-changing dialogue, which isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes simple, mindless movie watching is what the soul needs. I bet this is why Angelica narrowed down the description of this movie to “cute”, because it is. So, whenever I’m in need of a light movie and want to feel close to Angelica again, this is one of my go-tos. With all of the craziness that was going on in her life during that time, I figured it couldn’t hurt to go see something that wasn’t heavy, something that would bring a slight smile to her face. I can’t help but think about her when I watch it, and wonder if she’s watching it with me, too.
