I caught the tail end of Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist again on TV last night.  Like so many other moviegoers, I missed this when it was in the theater.  I did catch it on DVD when it came out.  In what may be a new record for me, let me start with a digression.  There are some movies that demand to be seen on a big screen.  Then, there are films that are perfectly happy on my TV.  Nick and Nora falls into the latter category, and I mean that in a good way.  It’s a cozy little nibble of comfort food that I could easily find myself watching every time I stumble upon it.  In that way, it is similar to the more recent release, (500) Days of Summer, which shares an affection for the struggles of young people falling in and out of love.

One other thing these two movies share is an incredibly likeable and watchable pair of lead actors — Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel in (500) Days and Michael Cera and Kat Dennings in Nick and Nora.  With the exception of Dennings, I had seen all these actors excel before, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise, but watching the chemistry between them is still a revelation.

Let’s start with (500) Days.  Much has been made of its structure as the film jumps back and forth in time over the course of a 500 day doomed relationship.  You know right at the beginning that these two don’t get together, so that’s not a spoiler.  But even though it is ultimately a story of breaking up, it is still a romantic comedy.  The structure is a distant cousin to flicks that really mess with time like Memento, The Usual Suspects and Pulp Fiction.  But this one is a romp that shares literally no other characteristics with those predecessors.  (It’s true ancestor is When Harry Met Sally.)  There are titles that introduce each sequence that let you know exactly what day you are in the relationship, but you don’t need them at all.  One look at Gordon-Leavitt, who may be in every scene in the movie, and the ecstatic or devastated expression on his face and you know where you’re at.

Gordon-Levitt is one of the best young actors working out there today.  Lots of people talk about Ryan Gosling (and the acclaim is well deserved) and I think that Gordon-Leavitt should be part of that same conversation.  Recently, I’ve only seen him in indie dramas of the overwrought brutal variety (though I’ve also missed some of his recent more commercial work such as G.I. Joe).  Mysterious Skin cast him as a teenage gay prostitute.  He was heartbreakingly good, even though the movie itself is almost impossible to watch at points.  Gordon-Levitt also excelled in the lead of Brick, a high school noir murder mystery that was a little too into itself for being a high school noir murder mystery.  The bottom line is that he’s made everything I’ve seen with him better.  (And yes, that includes 3rd Rock from the Sun, the late 90s sitcom about aliens assimilating to life on Earth, which I used to watch and thoroughly enjoy.)  It was great to see him as a romantic-comedy lead (even if the prefix anti- is needed).

I also have loved Zooey Deschanel everywhere she’s popped up.  Even in crappy movies like Yes Man and The Happening, I enjoy spending time with her (though I do wish that someone would write better scripts for her).  Her role in (500) Days is more of a foil for Gordon-Levitt.  It’s almost like the script was more interested in the idea of her character than the actual person she’s playing.  This could have been a disaster with another actress.  But Deschanel manages to fully embody an underwritten role, making us respect and love this woman despite the fact that she’s really just in the movie to make our hero’s life miserable.

That last paragraph maybe gives an unfair characterization of the film as a whole.  It is a delightful, funny, heartfelt flick about finding the one who is not the one, and in that alone it is a unique piece of work.  It wears its angst on its sleeve and on Gordon-Levitt’s face, and it is well worth the rental.

(One more quick digression.  Many critics lauded the originality of a scene where Gordon-Levitt breaks into a Hall and Oates song, and passersby join him in an impromptu musical dance number.  Let’s just say it was done better — twice — in Enchanted, which is also a wonderful film to spend a couple of hours with.)

But what about Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist, you say.  This movie is just pure unadulterated joy.  Sure it nods in the direction of high school angst, but really it is flat out about being young and on the prowl for something — love, a secret concert, fun, a ride — or, more appropriately, everything.

This movie is After Hours written by John Hughes.  Though really its episodic storytelling and true affection for teenagers owes everything to Hughes and very little beyond a common theme of wandering New York City in the middle of the night to Scorsese’s film.

The Nick and Nora soundtrack is totally enjoyable (and residing happily on my Ipod).  The bits are funny.  The writing is sharp.  The acting is spot on — both Dennings and Cera are masters at capturing the stuttering insecurity of the high school mating ritual to the point where I questioned whether they were acting.  The supporting cast rocks (sometimes quite literally).  And the sweetness of the ending will make you tear up.  What more do you want from a DVD diversion.  Enjoy.