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From Page to Screen: 'Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist', Part 2
Filed under: Comedy », Casting », From Page to Screen »
In interviews, Michael Cera has been ambivalent about his newfound fame. He's even expressed gentle skepticism regarding the Arrested Development movie everyone's buzzing about. I'm sure he has legitimate personal reasons to be concerned about his celebrity – it can't be easy for someone who doesn't have a huge personality, and who isn't a natural attention hog. But we fans and viewers also have reasons to worry. Foremost among them is the concern that Cera's popularity could drive him to roles where his talents are wasted. Indeed, as this fall's Nick & Norah's Inifinite Playlist demonstrated, it's already begun to happen. For the first time in the comic's career, his presence hurt the project instead of helping it.
In my first go-round with Nick & Norah, after reading the book and before seeing the film, I was optimistic that the role of Nick was just the opportunity for Cera to expand his range – play a character who is a little more confident, a little less tentative and hesitant. Sadly, that's not what happened. Instead, some subtle differences aside, Cera transplanted his (very funny) stock character from Arrested Development, Superbad and Juno into a story where that character wasn't needed, or welcome. In the process, he turned what could have been a sweet, moving romance into a tepid, if still amusing, teen comedy.
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.
A Poster for 'Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist'
Filed under: Toronto International Film Festival », Posters »
It's been fun getting just about a superhero movie a week for the past couple of months; really, it has. And of course, everything has been building to The Dark Knight, which we'll finally get to see at various points next week. I dig it, but I'd be lying if I wasn't looking forward to the fall. Specifically the Toronto Film Festival. And more specifically still, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, Michael Cera's follow-up to last year's overwhelmingly successful one-two of Superbad and Juno. (It's also director Peter Sollett's follow-up to the underseen Raising Victor Vargas). It looks fantastic, and perfect for Cera, who continues to transplant his schtick into different genres and contexts. MTV Movies has Nick & Norah's new poster, which is perfect, and sweet, and makes me want to give the movie a hug. It's pitched as a love story set in the cinematically underrepresented hipster music scene, and the poster encapsulates that to a T. (It also, for better or worse, just takes a still from the film that was released back in January). I wouldn't dare call myself a hipster, but I've dipped my toes in that world, and I'd love to see a smart movie about it. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist premieres at Toronto in preparation for an October 3rd release.
Come to think of it, I think I'll take on the novel by Rachel Cohn and David Leviathan in my From Page to Screen column next week. Hope you'll check it out.
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