Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2008, USA)

Nick and Norah is a pretty rote exercise, a pseudo-indie teen rom-com that lazily tries to hide its pedigree under a veneer of in-the-moment music scenesterism. It’s going to feel terribly dated in about a year, and seem a relic in two. What’s worse, Nick and Norah pretty much wastes the comedic talents of its stars, Michael Cera and Kat Dennings, with a lame script and ineffectual direction. The two have some chemistry, but no spark, and in this context, it was a really, really bad idea to name them after one of the most dynamite screen pairings of all time (at least as far as snarky banter is concerned), William Powell and Myrna Loy in the Thin Man movies.

That said, there are some funny bits here and there. Cera’s delivery, as always, works on lame lines that other actors just couldn’t pull off. I also liked his gay band friends, though I wasn’t quite sure why being the only straight guy in a gay band equals instant hilarity. (However, John Cho in suspenders and a t-shirt reading “Challah Back” absolutely equals instant hilarity.)

But mostly, I liked Ari Graynor as Norah’s party-girl friend, Caroline. Caroline’s that girl who arrives at the party at 10:00 and is totally wasted by 10:02. Playing the drunk must be a lot more fun than playing the prude, and Graynor rips into it, leading the crew around Manhattan in search of her dumb ass, and totally owning the best scene in the movie, a Port Authority bus-bench exchange with a mute Kevin Corrigan and a turkey sandwich. I’ve only ever seen Graynor in a secondary role on the T.V. series “Fringe” and a couple of short stints on other network shows, but it looks like her upcoming projects include Drew Barrymore’s roller derby movie, Whip It! and the long-gestating Youth in Revolt. My doubts about both projects aside, I hope they’ll give her the opportunity to do more comedy.