Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist
2008  PG-13  COMEDY  1h 30min
CAST— Michael Cera, Kat Dennings, Alexis Dziena, Ari Graynor, Aaron Yoo, Jay Baruchel
MUSIC— Mark Mothersbaugh  DIRECTOR— Peter Sollett  BASED ON— Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (novel), by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

     Nick is an average put-upon teenager: he plays bass in a band that is going nowhere fast; his cheating girlfriend has just dumped him; he drives a Yugo. Norah has a back story, as well: she is subtly resentful of her father’s position in the music business; she has dumped her has-been rocker boyfriend. What these two party animals have in common is a love of music, more specifically the band Where’s Fluffy? “Where’s Fluffy?”, indeed. This mysterious band is putting on a show in a clandestine location and Nick and Norah tool around NYC in search of the venue. Along the way they put on a search for a missing friend with the help of Nick’s band mates, running afoul of various exes every step of the way. Only sporadically entertaining, this eclectic film works best as a tribute to New York’s indie music scene, but as a comedy fails to gel. Not recommended for the younger set due to rather frank dialogue and subject matter.
OUR RATING— **