Starring Michael Cera, Kat Dennings. Written by Lorene Scafaria, based on the novel by Rachel Cohn, David Levithan. Directed by Peter Sollett. (PG) 90 min. Opens Oct 3. See Interview at eyeweekly.com/film.
The title knowingly evokes The Thin Man, but a more accurate reference point would be Superbad. Except that this is no Apatow-style bromance: instead, indie kids Michael Cera and Kat Dennings do the brand-new-soulmate thing over one incident-and-Pitchfork-
Best-New-Music-filled night in Brooklyn’s various hipster enclaves (i.e. the sort of place where Bishop Allen gets a gig).
In short: this is not the sort of movie that many of us wanted Peter Sollett to make after his fine, sincerely independent debut Raising Victor Vargas. Yet Nick & Nora’s Infinite Playlist is better than it sounds, partly because Sollett pushes gamely past the script’s rom-com potholes, and partly because he’s got a real knack with young actors. Granted, Cera isn’t exactly stretching his talents by playing an awkward straight-edged teenager, but he’s less mannered than usual, and Dennings — who played so well off of Anna Faris in The House Bunny — is slyly fetching as the object of his (and, eventually, our) affections. She’s positively triumphant during what must be 2008’s most memorable mainstream climax — a double entendre that boldly overturns a double standard about the pleasure principle in teen comedies.