Have you ever tried way too hard to be cute to impress a girl, or a guy? You know, with a bad but hopefully endearing joke. Maybe you were wearing impossibly trendy clothes. I have. And the reaction goes like this; the girl flashes me an awkward smile and nothing else. This movie was the boy who tries too hard and audience becomes the girl who has to smile awkwardly through it.
It just tries too hard, and you can tell. It doesn't make it seem effortless like the best movies do. Instead of just having indie charm, it feels like it is trying to create indie charm. A cheap imitation genuinely quirky indie movies. Does the title sequence really need that handwritten feel? It doesn't add anything to the movie, nor is it entirely appropriate. Instead it just feels like a tired cliche. It's not Juno as much as it wants to be, despite Micheal Cera essentially reprising his Juno role. Does the movie need to prominently feature a dilapidated vehicle? It's not Little Miss Sunshine. Is it necessary for the movie about high school seniors to take place over one night? That's a little played out too, recently in another Cera pic, Superbad which in turn stole the format from American Graffiti.
This is probably a good time to tell you what the movie is about. Well Nick is brokenhearted teenager out at a NYC club when he Norah, his ex's friend/enemy, makes out with him. It's love at first site, as long as Nick can get over his ex. That's pretty much it. Most of the film is them exploring NYC after dark looking for Norah's drunk friend while they be cute with each other.
The differences between Superbad/Juno/Little Miss Sunshine and Nick and Norah is that those films were funny. And of course they were sweet. So we forgave their manufactured hipness and honestly grating tone because we were laughing. Nick and Norah keeps the sweet and loses the funny and its worse off for it. It's like we are getting only half of a movie. The premise seems like it allows for comedic misadventures, and when they don't come you miss it. It feels weird. Unfortunately the sweet side of the film doesn't pick up the slack. It'd be good enough if it was trying to be the heart of a comedy, but it's not good enough be the heart of a romance. There just isn't enough substance there. It's all very superficial cuteness. There are a few moments that illicit laughs most involving the drunk girl, but the jokes play second fiddle to Nick and Norahs meet-cute romance which is frankly the wrong format for this movie.
The film features surprisingly authentic teenage behavior and dialogue. It's a film that gets the way teenagers talk to each other. Nick and Norah's conversations seem contrived but the films others attempt to capture the way young people react to each other was spot on. The way they get excited about a favorite obscure band rang particularly true.
Ultimately it's a decent film, with endearing characters and good heart. Sure it tries too hard to have that indie charm, and sure it's nothing more than the soul of a meet-cute romance trapped awkwardly in a teen comedy premise, but you could worse if you're looking for a harmless, mildly entertaining date movie. But you could also do a lot better.
It just tries too hard, and you can tell. It doesn't make it seem effortless like the best movies do. Instead of just having indie charm, it feels like it is trying to create indie charm. A cheap imitation genuinely quirky indie movies. Does the title sequence really need that handwritten feel? It doesn't add anything to the movie, nor is it entirely appropriate. Instead it just feels like a tired cliche. It's not Juno as much as it wants to be, despite Micheal Cera essentially reprising his Juno role. Does the movie need to prominently feature a dilapidated vehicle? It's not Little Miss Sunshine. Is it necessary for the movie about high school seniors to take place over one night? That's a little played out too, recently in another Cera pic, Superbad which in turn stole the format from American Graffiti.
This is probably a good time to tell you what the movie is about. Well Nick is brokenhearted teenager out at a NYC club when he Norah, his ex's friend/enemy, makes out with him. It's love at first site, as long as Nick can get over his ex. That's pretty much it. Most of the film is them exploring NYC after dark looking for Norah's drunk friend while they be cute with each other.
The differences between Superbad/Juno/Little Miss Sunshine and Nick and Norah is that those films were funny. And of course they were sweet. So we forgave their manufactured hipness and honestly grating tone because we were laughing. Nick and Norah keeps the sweet and loses the funny and its worse off for it. It's like we are getting only half of a movie. The premise seems like it allows for comedic misadventures, and when they don't come you miss it. It feels weird. Unfortunately the sweet side of the film doesn't pick up the slack. It'd be good enough if it was trying to be the heart of a comedy, but it's not good enough be the heart of a romance. There just isn't enough substance there. It's all very superficial cuteness. There are a few moments that illicit laughs most involving the drunk girl, but the jokes play second fiddle to Nick and Norahs meet-cute romance which is frankly the wrong format for this movie.
The film features surprisingly authentic teenage behavior and dialogue. It's a film that gets the way teenagers talk to each other. Nick and Norah's conversations seem contrived but the films others attempt to capture the way young people react to each other was spot on. The way they get excited about a favorite obscure band rang particularly true.
Ultimately it's a decent film, with endearing characters and good heart. Sure it tries too hard to have that indie charm, and sure it's nothing more than the soul of a meet-cute romance trapped awkwardly in a teen comedy premise, but you could worse if you're looking for a harmless, mildly entertaining date movie. But you could also do a lot better.
