Questions About Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

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Answered Questions (10)

What did you think of the movie adaptation of Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist ?

Kalli It's probably hard for me to answer this question just because this book has come to define such a large part of my life. I really didn't like the mov…moreIt's probably hard for me to answer this question just because this book has come to define such a large part of my life. I really didn't like the movie. I felt that it just wasn't the right medium for the message that was being told, which wasn't really about music, or partying, or even having an end goal but about the fact that life is scary, unpredictable, and will throw you curve balls but that it's up to you to surround yourself with people who you can trust to get you through it.

The entire plot of the movie was changed for the sake of it being...well a movie. As it is a movie there had to be a specific goal in mind: find Caroline, versus the book which is very much about taking a risk, and setting out into this scary, mystery that is life with no plan in the hopes that everything will work out. However, the fact that Norah spends most of the movie searching for Caroline really compromises Nick and Norah's relationship. In the book Norah and Nick are discovering each other on purpose, Norah runs away and then she comes back, or Nick retreats into himself before snapping out of it. The story and narrative is driven by their intentional discovery of each other and themselves no by a the need to resolve a plot. In the movie this is lost because it seems that the characters are forced together more so by circumstance than by choice. In this way there is no active effort being made on their part to get over their respective exes and move-on, it's more of just a side effect of being stuck in the same van searching for Caroline. This really affects their characters. For example, Nick comes off a lot more mopey; in the book his sadness over Tris is also edged with bitterness, versus in the movie it is defined by blue-lit, ethereal scenes that make him out to be a lost, nerdy boy who will never get past Tris.

Another thing that made me really sad about the movie is the way it approaches the relationships between Tris, Caroline, and Norah. I come from an all-girls school background and the relationships between these three girls really reminded me of that when I read the book (i.e. it was authentic.) In fact when I forced one of my closest friends to read the book one of his first comments was that the female relationships in the book really reminded him of the way I describe my own relationships with girls at my schools. This is because even though Norah and Caroline don't necessarily like Tris they are still quite familiar, i.e. they're close enough that Norah has listened to Nick's mixtapes, and some of Tris' flirting tricks were taught to her by Norah (the back of the car phone call). Further, Tris is never outright mean to Norah in the book, passive aggressive sure, but they clearly have a past and the issue is less about how she treats Norah and more about how she has treated Nick. In the movie they are all reduced to caricatures. Norah becomes the outcast, Tris becomes the popular mean girl who has picked on the outcast, and Caroline becomes the drunk, dumb one. They're relationship is squashed in the interest in telling an underdog story; (Norah is clearly not suppose to be an underdog by the way, she is rich, smart, and attractive, her problems are not defined by society but by her own ability to shut down her emotions, and push people away).

Finally the movie focuses way too much on keeping in small, meaningful symbols as opposed to actually meaningful moments (maybe this was a budget thing). Meaningful, material symbols I can think of include Salvatore's jacket, and the Yugo, and meaningful moments that were left out or butchered include moments such as the 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' Monologue. I capitalize it because this was one of the most important parts of the book. It is important because it is said by Dev, a notorious 'man-whore' for lack of a better term who truly believes in the idea that love is simple, and not sexual, almost more-so like a friendship than anything, which contrasts the stereotypical image of his character. In the movie this is spoken by Thom, and that ruins it. Throughout the story Thom and his boyfriend are already exhibiting a healthy relationship and this has not had an impact on Nick through out his break up with Tris. Nick has become a cynic, and turns to people like Dev as evidence as to why maybe its best not to risk it all on one person like he did with Tris. This is why it is so significant when Dev tells him that love is not only possible but simple. This entire night Nick has been over analyzing his relationship with Norah and here is Dev explaining that his own non-monogamous behavior is not evidence that love cannot happen but evidence that when you have a feeling you need to follow it or love will NEVER happen. This is what allows Nick to take a chance on Norah, and move past Tris.

Let's be real, the book is written in beautiful prose that does not transpose well into a movie script. Too much of the story is meant to be self-reflective, and internal and that is difficult to do when you can't show a character's thought process, or inner-monologue. The movie is probably a great indie flick if you haven't read the book, but if you've read the book and had it resonate with you the way I have than it will be a disappointment. (less)

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Can anyone help me figure out Norah's relationship with Caroline? I couldn't understand why she was so cherished by Norah's parents. Was it one of the "my parents want me to be someone else" type of thing?

Kalli I think it was a lot of that, but also driven a lot by the fact that Norah and Caroline have grown up together. The vibe I got was that Caroline kind …moreI think it was a lot of that, but also driven a lot by the fact that Norah and Caroline have grown up together. The vibe I got was that Caroline kind of felt like another daughter to them, and that because Norah cared about her so much her parents had long ago come to cherish Caroline in the same way. I think this mainly because there does not seem to be a lot of resentment from Norah towards Caroline, it's more like "oh my gosh my parents are ridiculous and love my best friend so much that it's kind of crazy". (less)

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Is there any intense physical love?

Jaz There is one scene where they almost but decided to take it slow (they got walked in on)

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There was a series of movies in the 1930s and '40s based on the Dashiell Hammett novel The Thin Man. This series featured a married couple of private detectives called Nick and Nora Charles (and their dog, Asta). These names seem like a weird coincidence, unless there's some sort of "Nick and Nora(h)" thing been going on for the last 80+ years Is there any connection between these movies and this novel?

The Unicorn Asides for namesake and Rachel Cohn wanting to write a YA novel that (quoting from an NPR article, released October 2008 in conjunction with the film …moreAsides for namesake and Rachel Cohn wanting to write a YA novel that (quoting from an NPR article, released October 2008 in conjunction with the film adaptation release) "would try to capture the sort of constant banter between Nick and Nora Charles that characterized the 1930s Thin Man series", as far as I'm concerned, there's no connection between the two couple sets.(less)

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Do Nick and Norah end up together?