Monday, March 2, 2009

Movie to avoid: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

I watched this over the weekend and it sucked.

I'm not sure why it's gotten good reviews; it is a typical, clichéd high school boy-meets-girl story (and the stereotypical characters that follow: the popular bitchy girl; the drunken/whorish/party girl best friend (complete with casual jokes to her getting lost, while wasted, in NYC and potentially getting raped); the jerky ex-boyfriend/bully character, etc.).

All of these failed trappings are dressed up as a hip indie flick, complete with an Emo soundtrack and Michael Cera's pouty demeanor. We are supposed to believe that Michael Cera, always known for his portrayal of awkward, geeky guys, is now the biggest catch in Englewood, New Jersey?

Oh, and he's in a band with all gay guys and somehow we're supposed to relish the idea that it's a non-stereotypical portrait of gays. Really? Seems like a pretty typical treatment to me: their sexuality is discussed but never shown (i.e., no kissing or otherwise); they have insights into women's fashion that the female characters lack; and when one of them hits the jerky ex-boyfriend character, he crumbles into a pile of tears. Bitch, please.

Apparently, if you live within bridge and tunnel distance to NYC and you are in high school, it's completely normal to go out all night in NYC. No parents to set rules or boundaries... if you didn't know better, you'd think these kids were 25 and answered to no one. The only mention of a parent was when it was revealed that our heroine was the daughter of some music industry mogul, which enabled her to walk into any club in NYC without waiting and gave her full access to his recording studio at any hour of the night. Sure, I knew tons of girls just like this. In fact, this was my life in high school!

It was annoying, unfunny and a complete waste of time. I was so disappointed I had to post this...

1 comment:

dakotasmommy said...

you are quite the movie reviewer, loving it.