Nick and Norahs Infinite Playlist

Plot

A straight bass player in an "all gay band" called The Jerk-Offs, Nick OLeary (Michael Cera) is a teenager from Hoboken, New Jersey. Nick is still heartbroken after his girlfriend, Tris (Alexis Dziena), broke up with him three weeks, two days, and 23 hours ago, and continues to make for her "breakup" mix CDs. Thom (Aaron Yoo) and Dev (Rafi Gavron), his gay bandmates who both hate Tris, convince Nick to perform at a club because his favorite band— the legendary, publicity-shy indie band Wheres Fluffy? —is performing somewhere in New York City that night. Norah Silverberg (Kat Dennings) attends the same high school as Tris, Convent of the Sacred Heart, and though Norah and Tris dislike each other, they have a mutual friend named Caroline (Ari Graynor). Norah has not met Nick, but shares his taste in music based on recovering his mix CDs after Tris discards them in the trash. That night, the three girls end up at Arlenes Grocery on Manhattans Lower East Side, where The Jerk-Offs are playing. Norah asks Nick to pretend to be her boyfriend to show up Tris. Norah kisses him, unaware that he is the ex-boyfriend of Tris. Caroline gets drunk and Norah wants to take her home, but Nicks bandmates (who see Norah as a potential new girlfriend for him) offer to take Caroline home so Norah and Nick can spend time together trying to find the show.

When Thom and Dev stop at Grays Papaya for hot dogs, a confused Caroline escapes from Thoms van. Nick and Norah meet up with Thom and Dev to try to find her. A confusing phone call leads them to look for her at a club that Wheres Fluffy? is rumored to be playing, but with no success. Tris, eager to win back Nick, catches up with them when she gets a phone call from Caroline, who is now able to tell Norah that she has "found Jesus" and "an altar boy without pants." They find a drunk Caroline on stage at a gay cabaret dressed as a Christmas tree. When they arrive at Nicks car, Tris is sitting on the hood waiting for him. Norah tells him how nice it was to meet him, but he leaves to talk with Tris without giving Norah a response. An upset Norah meets up at a club with her friend with benefits, Tal (Jay Baruchel), but soon realizes that he has an ulterior motive and hopes to get a deal for his band with Norahs father, a record producer (Richard Waddingham). She agrees to pay for Tal and his friends drinks, but she tells the waitress to increase the tab because there was a miscalculation, and she leaves him to pay. Nick, meanwhile, decides to confront Tris, but she tells him she wants to be together again and asks for a ride home. Tris asks Nick to stop by the river, where she tries to seduce him. Whilst she seductively dances in front of the car, Nick reminisces fondly about Norah and the nights events and drives away, leaving Tris behind.

Nick calls Norah, apologizing for leaving, and she agrees to meet him again. Deciding to go somewhere where no one they know will find them, they arrive at Electric Lady Studios, a music studio owned by Norahs father. Once there, Norah gets Nick to play something he wrote in the studio, but then joins him in the recording room. Norah gets a text message from Caroline telling her where she found Wheres Fluffy? playing. When they arrive at the show, they meet Tris, who cannot understand why Nick will not take her back, and Tal, who wants the same answer from Norah. Tal starts a fight with Nick, but Thom and Devs friend, Lethario (Jonathan B. Wright), steps in and headbutts Tal. Nick and Norah share a smile and leave together. At Pennsylvania Station, Nick admits that he does not care about missing the concert, and they kiss on the escalator as the sun rises over New York City.

Cast

Writing

Nick and Norahs Infinite Playlist was originally the novel written by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, which producer Kerry Kohansky Roberts brought into development as a film in 2003. Lorene Scafaria was hired by Roberts in early 2005 to adapt the novel for Chris and Paul Weitz and Focus Features; the script was her first film adaptation. Peter Sollett signed on to direct the film in 2006, when the script was in its second draft, and collaborated with Scafaria. Scafaria said that Norah "was me on the page", while Sollett felt that as a teenager he was "not dissimilar to Nick". Both had similar experiences to Nick and Norah, commuting into Manhattan at night, Scafaria from New Jersey and Sollett from Staten Island.

Cohn and Levithan had written the novel in alternating chapters: Cohn writing from Norahs perspective and Levithan writing from Nicks perspective. Cera and Dennings recorded voice-over narration to mimic the first-person perspective from which the novel is written, but the voice-overs were not included in the final cut of the film. Scafaria says that the differences between the novel and the film were "to make it a little more cinematic". She said that Nick and Norahs parents were written out of the script "to absorb what its like to be young, [because] youre not thinking about your parents when youre out all night". In addition to searching for Wheres Fluffy?, Sollett felt that the film needed a second MacGuffin to propel the story forwards, so Norahs best friend Caroline got drunk and then lost, giving Nick and Norah an additional objective.

Filming

Shooting on a budget of US$10 million, principal photography of Nick and Norahs Infinite Playlist took place from late October to early December 2007. The film was shot over 29 days in one-week blocks, and was one of the first to receive a filming subsidy from the state of New York under the "Made in NY" incentive program. Filming took place mainly in Manhattans East Village and Lower East Side, as well as Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Filming locations included Katzs Delicatessen, Mercury Lounge, Arlenes Grocery, Pennsylvania Station, Port Authority Bus Terminal, the Veselka restaurant and Don Hills bar. Union Pool, a bar in Brooklyn, was also used for filming but requested to be called "Brooklyn Pool" in the film, and Norahs fathers recording studio was filmed at Electric Lady Studios. Some scenes were shot on a sound stage in a studio in Brooklyn.

The cast did many rehearsals, including on-location rehearsals, which Dennings described as "the most practical thing Ive ever heard of". During the course of filming, the actors slept during the day, woke in the afternoon, had their make-up applied on set, and filmed from dusk until dawn. The cast and crew members would often sit inside the The Jerk-Offs van between takes to avoid the cold, and sometimes stayed inside, out of sight, while scenes were being filmed in the van. Reshoots of the film began in May 2008; the film had originally begun at The Jerk-Offs show where Nick and Norah first meet, and all prior scenes were written in later. Editor Myron Kerstein cut some of the shots on set due to time and budgetary restraints.

Critical response

Nick and Norahs Infinite Playlist received generally positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 74% based on 179 reviews, with an average score of 6.5/10. The sites critical consensus reads, "Nick and Norahs Infinite Playlist combines a pair of charming leads, the classic New York backdrop and a sweet soundtrack". At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 64 out of 100, based on 32 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Claudia Puig of USA Today gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising Dennings on-screen presence, the "considerable chemistry" between Cera and Dennings, and the "excellent" soundtrack. The New York Times critic A. O. Scott described Nick and Norahs Infinite Playlist as a "shy, sweet romance" that "surveys the varieties of teenage experience with tolerant sympathy". James Berardinelli of ReelViews reviewed the film warmly with 3 out of 4 stars, complimenting the soundtrack, the "witty" dialog and the appeal of the film to both adults and teenagers. Michael Ordona wrote for the Los Angeles Times that the film is familiar, but is "fleshed out with atmosphere, a nice blend of broad goofiness and sophistication, and two appealing leads who bring it to life". Entertainment Weekly???s Lisa Schwarzbaum graded the film as an A–, giving particular commendation to its nonchalant portrayal of gay teenagers and Norahs Jewish identity. Richard Corliss of Time magazine opined that the film was "smart, sweet, [and] bordering-on-adorable" while the title characters were "worth watching, admiring and cuddling up to".

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote that Nick and Norahs Infinite Playlist "doesnt bring much to the party. [...] Its not much of a film, but it sort of gets you halfway there, like a Yugo." Rolling Stone???s Peter Travers gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, saying, "Im yawning just writing this. [...] Sollett, hoping for a Before Sunrise/Before Sunset vibe, sadly settles for a soggy aftertaste." In a review for The Village Voice, Robert Wilonsky likened the film to "something crafted in a lab by 54-year-old hucksters trying to sell shit to the kids under the cheerless guise of alternative. The only thing its an alternative to? Good." Variety magazines John Anderson described it as a "sparsely plotted comedy" that is "sweet, no doubt, but a bit too slick for its own good".

Box office

The world premiere of Nick and Norahs Infinite Playlist was held on September 6, 2008 at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival. It was released theatrically in the United States on October 3, 2008, grossing US$11,311,751 from 2,421 screens on its debut weekend, placing third in the box office rankings. The following weekend, it grossed $6,420,474 with a per-screen average of $2,652 and a cumulative gross of $20,730,708, ranking fifth. It earned another $3,693,384 on its third weekend with a per-screen average of $1,648 and a cumulative gross of $26,500,875, dropping to eighth place. The film ended its theatrical run with a total domestic gross of $31,487,293 and a foreign gross of $2,018,844, giving a worldwide total of $33,506,137. It placed 92nd for the highest-grossing films of 2008 and 85th for the years highest-grossing opening weekends.

The film was screened at the London Film Festival in October 2008 and at the Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema in March 2009.

Award nominations

Nick and Norahs Infinite Playlist was nominated for three Satellite Awards, in the categories of Best Film – Musical or Comedy, Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Michael Cera), Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Kat Dennings), but failed to win any. The film was also nominated at the GLAAD Media Awards in the category of Outstanding Film – Wide Release, and Kat Dennings was nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance – Female. The films supervising music editor Andrew Dorfman was nominated for a Golden Reel Award by the Motion Picture Sound Editors for Best Sound Editing – Music in a Feature Film, but did not win.

Home media

Nick and Norahs Infinite Playlist was released on DVD and Blu-ray in North America on February 3, 2009. The disc includes: one audio commentary with Peter Sollett, Michael Cera, Kat Dennings and Ari Graynor, and another with Sollett, Rachel Cohn, David Levithan, and Lorene Scafaria; the featurettes "A Nick and Norah Puppet Show by Kat Dennings" and "Ari Graynors Video Diary: A Look Behind-the-Scenes"; a music video for Bishop Allens song "Middle Management"; storyboard animations with optional audio commentary; a faux interview with Michael Cera, Kat Dennings and Eddie Kaye Thomas; deleted scenes; outtakes; and a photo gallery.

Soundtrack

Cohn and Levithans novel contained many musical references, including songs by The Cure and Green Day, as did Scafarias screenplay, which she originally submitted with a mix CD featuring her ideas for the films soundtrack, including songs by The Black Keys, Bloc Party, and Frou Frou. In the final cut of the film, however, most of the music was chosen by Sollett, editor Myron Kerstein and music supervisor Linda Cohen. Sollett said that he "got lucky" with the songs that he was able to choose because, within the financiers and the studio, "there was nobody in that group who knew all that much about music or the music that we had in the film". His objective when selecting the music was to find "the best music you havent heard yet", primarily from bands based in New York City. While filming in New York, he emailed songs "right out of my iTunes [library]" which he thought would suit particular scenes to Kerstein, who was in Los Angeles assembling the film as it was shot.