From Page to Screen: 'Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist'
Filed under: Comedy, Independent, From Page to Screen
I think that everyone who loves Michael Cera's comedy – and that should be practically everyone – is a little worried about Michael Cera. Because even as Arrested Development becomes legend, Superbad wins over every twentysomething in sight, and Juno charms the pants off the entire nation, the hushed, often unspoken question is: how long can he milk this? Cera's shtick is killer, but it's also ultra-specific – he's the shy, unprepossessing, painfully awkward adolescent, a nice guy who's self-aware enough to get embarrassed but not confident enough to avoid it.
Cera is so good at playing this part in a way that's both touching and hysterical that it's propelled him to stardom. For me to say that I haven't enjoyed any of the incarnations of George Michael Bluth that he's given us over the past couple years would be a bald-faced lie. Indeed, I think the character he's crafted is one of the most impressive comic achievements of my adult lifetime. But even as I relish it, I start to fidget, because I can sense exasperation and annoyance threatening from just around the bend. Oh, maybe not mine – I could watch Cera do this forever, I tell myself – but certainly other people will soon lose patience and turn on the guy. One-trick pony, they'll yell. Do something else.
It doesn't help that, predictably enough, Cera – who was only 15 when Arrested Development began – is getting older. Even assuming a maximally forgiving audience, the awkward teenager can only hold him over for so long. He has to find his range, I keep thinking, and soon.
Cera's IMDb page sends mixed signals. Harold Ramis's Year One has him playing an average guy taking an epic journey in Biblical times alongside Jack Black – which sounded different until I read this script review, which described Cera's character as "skinny, timid and pathetic" and raved about how well Cera's "awkward gawkiness" will serve him in the role. Dammit. Youth in Revolt sounds even less promising in terms of branching out, with Cera playing a 14-year-old desperate to lose his virginity to an unattainably beautiful neighborhood girl. Scott Pilgrim Versus the World, based on a comic book and to be directed by Edgar Wright, is a wild card: the protagonist is a 23-year-old who has to defeat his girlfriend's seven evil exes in a supernatural martial arts battle to win her heart. Sounds interesting, but it's still in pre-production.
That, at last, brings us to Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, which will play Toronto in advance of an October release, and the source novel for which I just finished reading. The authors (Rachel Cohn and David Levithan) didn't write the screenplay, and it's hard to say how the book and the characters might have been rewritten to suit the movie's stars (Cera and Kat Dennings, perhaps best known for playing Catherine Keener's daughter in The 40 Year-Old Virgin). But if the movie is anything like the novel, it looks like Nick & Norah – an earnest, somewhat steamy emo kid melodrama -- offers the best hope for those of us who want to see Cera try something different.
You see, Nick is nothing like George Michael Bluth. He's not the smoothest operator, but he's in no danger of lapsing into total social dysfunction, either. He's an unapologetic indie kid, a bassist in a moderately talented "queercore" band, deep into the sort of screaming political punk rock that you think is the greatest thing ever when you're 18 or 19 (his favorite band is called "Where's Fluffy?"). He's getting over a rough break-up with an incredibly hot, sexually adventurous girl named Tris, who'll be played by Alexis Dziena. By all accounts, he's nice, intelligent, attractive, and reasonably confident – a find for any hipster girl who knows what's what.
The book tells the story of his whirlwind, night-long courtship with Norah. She's a complicated girl dealing with her own painful break-up. Both have to fight through layers upon layers of insecurities to trust each other and realize that they've stumbled onto something once-in-a-lifetime.
It's not, to be honest, all that inspiring. The novel was written for teens, but is racy enough that the older kids for whom it's suitable might be bored by the writing style, which is annoying in its self-conscious hipness. Moments in it are genuinely sweet, and Cohn and Levithan convey a nice sense of being young, free, and faced with a world full of possibilities. It's a quick, decently engaging read, but nothing earth-shattering.
The notion of Cera trying Nick's persona on for size, on the other hand, is exciting. I don't think a lot of people know that he's also a musician – his band has a MySpace page here; the song "Can I Call You Mine", on which he takes lead vocals, is actually kind of brilliant. This role is a logical next step; I hope it's the start of something new.
Related Headlines
Reader Comments
(Page 1)2. That's my biggest concern about his casting in the Scott Pilgrim movie, because while the character he's playing is a bit clueless, he is not exactly clueless in that awkward way Cera's been focused on... Pilgrim requires much more energy, and I really have no idea how they're going to pull it off.
Posted at 3:10AM on Jul 17th 2008 by James the 4th
3. i completely agree with the worry about cera playing the same part over and over. and yes, i think he may do it again in n&n. HOWEVER. this bullshit pisses me off: "It's not, to be honest, all that inspiring."
inspiring?! it's a fucking young adult novel written for, um, young adults. not movie critics, literary critics, or, god forbid, adults. it is a funny, racy, energetic novel about teens.
god this is what i hate about the literary world. to be a "worthy writer" you have to use long words. that's bullshit. a writer can pull a reader in, bring up emotions, teach them something, entertain them. get off your high horse EUGENE.
Posted at 6:55PM on Jul 17th 2008 by not a snob
4. Don't be a dick. All I meant was that it's not very good -- which it's not. It's a perfectly acceptable, readable teen novel. There are better ones.
Posted at 8:40PM on Jul 17th 2008 by Eugene Novikov
5. Good overview of Michael Cera's career so far, Eugene. I think Nick is within his range, yet the role will allow everyone to see if he can pull off something different, a character that's stronger than what he's played.
I liked the novel more than you did. True, it's essentially a glorified fantasy -- I haven't lived in New York for years, but I can't imagine it's totally *without* a hint of danger on the streets after midnight, and there are other elements that are very familiar -- but I liked the characters and thought the writers captured their feelings, especially their obsession with music, really well.
The gimmick of the writers trading chapters adds to the appeal of the novel -- their styles are similar enough to mesh -- but I truly hope the movie leaves that conceit behind.
The biggest question about the movie, for me, is not Cera's ability to hit a home run, but whether Kat Jennings will be able to match him. The worst thing would be if its turned into a simple star turn for Cera; to my thinking, it needs to be an equally matched battle of the sexes. So I'm anxious to see how the different narrative voices are handled -- so much of the book is dependent on each one looking at the same thing from very different perspectives.
Posted at 12:31AM on Jul 18th 2008 by Peter Martin
6. While I agree with a lot of points you have brought up, I just have to say that Youth in Revolt's character is NOTHING like previous characters Cera has played. Nick Twisp could be considered awkward, but he is hardly shy. The entire book revolves around him getting into massive amounts of trouble for being so rebellious and brash, and anyone who has read the book would be able to see that this complex character is definately something different. I was even a bit put off by the idea of Michael Cera playing him; I wasn't so sure he could pull it off well. However, I've come to think that we should just give the guy a chance. There are several actors that can pull of the awkward misfit no matter what age (Woody Allen?), but I think Cera is capable of doing a lot of things.
Posted at 6:07PM on Jul 18th 2008 by Vanessa A.
7. Saying "it's not very good" (which you actually didn't say) is an opinion, not a fact. Second of all, saying this: "It's a perfectly acceptable, readable teen novel" makes you sound pretentious, especially coming from a non-teen reader (I love how critics think their opinion is actually fact and means so much, when most of what they review was never made for them in the first place).
I'm shocked that people are judging a movie as if they've already seen it. And then judging a movie that's based on a screenplay that's based on a book.
Posted at 2:59PM on Jul 21st 2008 by notasnob
8. For those interested, see below the list of songs that will be in the movie. Brooklyn's Bishop Allen and Project Jenny, Project Jan also make an appearance in the film.
Chris Bell - "Speed Of Sound"
Devendra Banhart - "Lover"
The Real Tuesday Weld - "Last Words"
Takka Takka - "Fever"
Band Of Horses - "Our Swords"
Richard Hawley - "Baby You're My Light"
Modest Mouse - "Little Motel"
Project Jenny Project Jan - "Negative"
Dead 60's - "Riot Radio"
Paul Tiernan - "How To Say Goodbye"
Army Navy - "Silvery Sleds"
Shout Out Louds - "Very Loud"
We Are Scientists - "After Hours"
The Submarines - "Xavia"
The National - "All The Wine"
The Raveonettes - "Twilight"
Bishop Allen - "Middle Management"
Vampire Weekend - "Ottoman"
Matt & Kim - "Silver Tiles
Posted at 3:35PM on Sep 3rd 2008 by artwell
Add your comments
Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.
When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.
To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br> tags.
1. You didn't mention "Clark and Michael", which I thought had Michael playing a different kind of character. "Michael" on the show was much more confident, assertive, and angry, than any of the other characters I've seen him do. Though he was still a socially awkward misfit, there's no doubt about that.
Cera has the full acting chops/range/etc.; I think we'll see that in due time. He got most of these roles in like a 6-month period; it's not surprising they don't take him on a giant range ride at this point. Also, his choices will likely change once he has a solid amount of dough, and feels comfortable that his career is relatively secure.
Posted at 1:47AM on Jul 17th 2008 by Lance Brown