Overview: An almost exclusively teen-oriented dramedy focusing on a pair of underground music lovers who find each other over the course of a single night while hopping from club to club in the City That Never Sleeps. And save for a bus station ticket window attendant—who may as well have been parroting muffled gibberish a la the unseen adults in the Peanuts cartoons—it’s a teen-only world Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. The youth here (like most youth in real life) have their own language, values, style, and rules. No adults needed or allowed.

The Lowdown: Nick (heartthrob-geek Michael Cera) got dumped not too long ago by Tris, his cheating, now-former girlfriend, and has taken a “mental health” day from school so he could pine away for her. But distraction arrives after classes in the form of his hardcore rock trio bandmates, who show up at Nick’s suburban New Jersey house and convince him to play an important Manhattan gig that night despite his unenthusiastic state.

Norah (Kat Dennings) goes to school with Nick’s former girlfriend and knows Nick only through the many mix CDs he’s burned for Tris—the latest she lovingly rescues from Tris’ toss into a school hallway trash can. Norah and her best friend—wild partier Caroline (Ari Graynor)—are headed to Manhattan tonight as well; they’ll search for their favorite band, Fluffy, that’s rumored to be playing a secret late-night gig somewhere in the city.

Norah and Caroline open their evening kicking it at hipster spot Arlene’s Grocery while Nick’s band is onstage. Nick’s doubly depressed because he sees Tris in the audience with a new boyfriend; Norah’s insecure because Tris detects that she’s alone (again), so after Nick’s band’s set is over, Norah claims her “boyfriend” is in the room, walks over to Nick, and kisses him. Shortly thereafter Norah learns that Nick is the Nick—the one Tris disses all the time, the one she admires from afar because of his artistry and musical pedigree.
        
At this point, Norah is embarrassed (and intrigued by Nick); Nick is confused (and intrigued by Norah); Caroline is very drunk and hitting on every guy with a pulse; Tris is strangely jealous; Nick’s bandmates, like Norah and Caroline (and Nick—and pretty much every other character, given they’re all cool teenagers with impeccable musical taste), desperately want to catch Fluffy’s secret gig. So they hit the streets, and the night picks up speed—as does Nick and Norah’s mutual attraction.

Teachable Moments: Not a ton. This isn’t a movie you want to attend with your teenagers—it’s a movie you’ll want to see alone or with youth worker friends to get a front-row seat on the latest celluloid adaptation of teen culture. The filmmakers are locked into a great deal of youth realism here—their passion, banter, behavior, musical deities, fashion choices—except for the fact that, um, these teens stay out all night in Manhattan. Oh yeah...and they often speak on their cell phones (and we all know that teens much prefer texting to talking). Such are the limitations of plot development. So while there are a handful of sweet scenes that you might find value as discussion starters after this flick releases to DVD—including one in which Nick and Norah discover that neither one of them are drinkers—your main benefit will come by catching Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist on your own and digesting the healthy helping of youth culture it serves up.

Viewer Discretion: While there’s no nudity, sex is a pervasive plot point. Nick’s bandmates (who happen to be gay—a factor that’s deftly treated as such a non-issue that it seems clear the filmmakers are keenly interested in the audience accepting it as a normal part of life) privately convince Norah to amplify her cleavage for Nick’s benefit, and we’re all blessed with it for the rest of the movie. A horny couple ambush Nick’s yellow Yugo thinking it’s a cab and get busy in the back seat while Norah switches in a new mix CD and Nick learns that Norah’s sort-of ex-boyfriend has been demoted to a “friend with benefits.” (The horny couple pay Nick $10 for the ride.) Tris’ painful play to win back Nick comes complete with seductive dance and an implied offer of sex (Nick rebuffs her). And while Tris unleashes the rumor on Norah that Nick’s supposedly never had an orgasm, Nick gives a mighty one to Norah on a couch in her father’s recording studio near the end of the movie. And given that the settings involve more than a few NYC clubs, there’s a fair amount of drinking going on—and Caroline is drunk nearly the entire movie.

General Appeal: This is (or will become) a touchstone for teenagers in 2008. There’s a great deal of attention paid to a very “teen approved” soundtrack; while many of you won’t recognize any of the songs, youthful viewers of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist will appreciate those choices. Even so youth workers would do well to catch this movie and use it as a vicarious field trip into the youth underground.

The Final Grade: Entertainment value—B-; ministry value—B+