Casting means everything when you’re recycling
material for movies and the makers of the delightful but familiar Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist must have known this when looking for the actors to take on
the title roles. Either that, or they got extremely lucky with Michael Cera
and Kat Dennings, a seemingly odd couple that generates some genuine sparks
in this all-night New York odyssey in which the title duo set out to find
the location of a secret concert given by their favorite group.
Obviously, things are much more complicated than that
as Nick is attempting to heal his broken heart which has been trampled on
by Tris (Alexis Dziena). You know she’s not worth his trouble when we
see her discard the music mixes Nick has spent so much time putting
together. However, during their long journey together, which starts in a
cutesy way that can only happen in the movies, Norah finds these discards
and realizes that while Nick might not be her soulmate, he’s
certainly her music mate, which is about the same with these two.
Though the film only runs 90 minutes, its fractured
narrative is taxing at times, particularly when we are dealing with
Caroline (Ari Graynor), Norah’s friend who becomes separated from her
and does her level best to seek attention no matter what the cost. Her
trials become tiresome and spending time with her becomes an exercise in
frustration as all we want to do is focus on how the titular duo ends up
together. In the end, the film doesn’t disappoint, delivering the
romance we crave and this charming couple deserves.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for a
good romance, as long as the lovers in question are rendered as realistic
and likeable and the circumstances that prevent them from being together
are plausible. With those criteria in mind, I was through with George
Wolfe’s Nights in Rodanthe a half hour in. Based on the novel by Nicholas
Sparks, this manipulative melodrama finds surgeon Paul Flanner (Richard
Gere) in the throes of a midlife crisis, as he’s reeling from the
death of a patient on the operating table and is trying to come to terms
with his estranged son (James Franco). Having an equally bad time of it is
Adrienne Willis (Diane Lane) who’s just left her philandering husband
(Christopher Meloni) and is helping a friend by watching over her
picturesque Bed and Breakfast …where the good doctor is
headed…and is the only guest…as a hurricane hits, and shakes
the inn to its core.
When pretty people like this find themselves facing
eminent death, you just know passion will erupt and it does. The problem
with the film is that Sparks’ story stacks one too many
improbabilities on this narrative plate and it all becomes too much to take
seriously. Whereas successful romances produce gut-wrenching moments of
heartache, Nights gives
us scenes that elicit incredulous, scoffing laughter. I don’t think
that’s the reaction they’re looking for.
This article appears in Oct 2-8, 2008.
