You’ll want to be part of the 'Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist' action
‘NICK & NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST”
* * * ½
Running time: One hour and minutes
Rated: PG-13 for sexual situations and foul language
Here’s the new generation’s “Before Sunrise.”
What is there about the concept of spending an evening, madcap or otherwise, with a stranger that so enchants moviegoers? Because it’s fun, romantic and often hilarious to boot. “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist” is that kind of movie. And although it’s about teenagers, it will appeal to a broad range of viewers who enjoy this kind of brief road-trip film.
More than anything else, the movie reminded me of one of my favorite and too-little-seen shows, “Go,” which is rougher and more adult in nature. Like “Go,” this follows several teenagers around New York City.
Michael Cera (“Juno”) is one of the leads as Nick, a high school student who still can’t get over being dumped by his girlfriend Tris (Alexis Dziena, “Broken Flowers”), who has taken up with a college guy. Nick has painstakingly created CD playlists for Tris — playlists for which he also has created cover art and notes.
Nick’s buddies know he needs to get out of the house and stop pining for the girl, who obviously is over Nick. One Friday, after they play their own gig in a club, his friends discover that their favorite band, Where’s Fluffy?, is going to give a late-night secret performance somewhere in New York City. So they consider hunting for the locale.
Elsewhere, Norah (Kat Dennings, “The House Bunny”) ends up at the club where Nick is playing. Norah is tired of hearing Tris complain at school about the guy who’s giving her all these CDs. Norah secretly has a crush on whoever this guy is because she knows he has good taste in music.
At the club, Tris appears with her new boyfriend and begins to chastise Norah for being alone. But Norah says she’s not alone and goes up to Nick, asking him to pretend to be her boyfriend for just a few minutes. Nick agrees, which irritates Tris, who becomes jealous and suddenly reattracted to Nick because he’s now unavailable.
The search for Where’s Fluffy? soon escalates into a search for Norah’s drunken friend Caroline (Ari Graynor, “For Your Consideration”), who has disappeared in Manhattan. What follows is a night, and part of a morning, on the town as the friends use various means and vehicles to complete their searches. A beat-up Yugo and a piece of chewing gum are involved in nearly all the action, which involves clever dialogue and, naturally, a soundtrack that’s hard to beat.
It’s smart. It’s sophisticated. It’s fun. You’ll want to be part of the action, too.