Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Somewhere in NY city , a group of indie rockers ,called " The Jerkoffs" are playing.  A strange but wondrous and awkward moment arrives for Nick, played by Micheal Cera, a young lady Norah, played by Kat Deninings, is in an uncomfortable situation and needs a boyfriend , even if for a moment, and asks Nick to relax while she plants her large vivacious lips on him in a fit of desperation.  The night has started.....

Unknown to our hero, Nick, his girl friend  that he is on a time out with, Tris (Alexis Dziena) has been two timing him, taking the compilations of music CD's he makes for her and throwing them out. So while is suffering from a broken heart, one of Tris's friends who happens to be Norah,  has listened to his CD's and thinks he might be her music soul mate. 

Nick plays for a small band in the NY indie rock scene, with a group of gay guys, the  one lone heterosexual teenager who is just as comfortable with his music friends as any other.  The fact they are gay is not even a thought.  This is a role that could have been made specifically for the unassuming laid back style of young Micheal Cera.  Just your regular guy teenager, no labels, no pretensions, but still troubled by love. Love seems to a problem for all teenagers and this movie explores some of the notions and assumptions of that filtering process that people go through in finding and choosing mates and lovers, all in one night!!  I had to think back to American Graffiti to capture the thought of a one night rampage and comedy of errors.

Norah's best friend, Caroline, played by Ari Graynor has had too much to drink and when she gets sick, it seems the night is over.  Norah needs to get her home, but in this moment the The other members of the band volunteer, no , insist they take her home and Nick and Norah need to go on a search looking for their favorite rock group , Where's Fluffy.  Meanwhile Tris who is having her own crisis is starting to chase Nick.  When the Band loses Caroline the movie takes on a life of it's own as everyone is engaged in finding both Caroline and Fluffy the favorite local band of both Nick and Norah.

The movie now has a series of adventures in the Subway, bars, tours the streets of NY in the wee hours of the morning, encounters with denizens of NY's homelessness and other shady characters in the night.  Nick and Norah have moments like so many young people, with wild hormones calling you together one moment then bruised egos and stereotyped comments the next as a turn off. 

Like any romantic comedy, I'm looking for that, aha moment when it becomes clear that the "Force" and "Gods" have come together to enlighten the two that they are meant for each other.  

While I'm waiting, I get to ponder how the movie has intertwined gender roles, broken new ground in the portrayal of human emotions, mixed in the different social casts and religions, putting them all in their own perspective and hinting at how they all factor in our subconscious and selection process.  I'm sure the move wasn't made to highlight these features, I just glad of the fact that these two kids were able by the end of the movie to see through all the BS in life and find each other.  That discovery process is what I found to be the most appealing.  We know of course it has to happen, this isn't some dark comedy or tragedy that is going to upset us in the end.

The movie has it's gross out moments of bad taste and humor, a few characters like a friend "with benefits" exchange with Nick and Norah about a Jewish musician, sometimes boyfriend of Norah's.  I'll leave his relationship and some of the fun mystery of Norah for you to discover in the movie. 

I found he movie to be refreshing in a  made for mostly teenage audience space, that as an older father, looking at the two teenagers, I wasn't always impressed with the on screen choices these characters make in the movie , but likes the way they were able to be honest to themselves and how in the end they listened to themselves and not to the "noise" of others around them.  

Critics are mixed on this movie and after viewing it I can see why.  Some claim it breaks new ground , others are put off that gay band members don't really have a serious part in the movie but are just there being gay and comfortable with it, as their straight friends are comfortable with them. 

So where is Fluffy ?  Best of all wait until the odyssey is over, and the two lovers have that "aha" moment and you can smile like I did after seeing the movie.