Review: "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist"

You don't need to look very far to see that these days more than ever, the teenager is king (or, in the case of reigning Clearasil set matriarch Miley Cyrus, queen).

From Gossip Girl to the new 90210 to Superbad to Greek, young hotties of various background, appearance, and disposition vie for the top spot like gladiators in designer duds. And for the most part, it's a pretty empty exercise, and one that most people over 30 aren't going to have much interest in aside from the faint whiff of nostalgia or eyecandy that these shows offer.

Enter Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, a teen romance that has all the ingredients of your run-of-the-mill teen farce (booze, clawing exes, wild parties, backstabbing) but throws a few ingredients into the mix that elevates it above the slapfighting masses: smarts and heart.

And while it's a bit too slight to stand beside the great teen movies of our time (Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off), it's a pleasant and quirky enough diversion that has plenty to offer gay men (yes, even those old enough to rent a car).

Nick (Michael Cera, the most adorkable teen to hit Hollywood since John Cusack) is a music lover and the only straight member of a queercore band called The Jerk Offs, where he plays bass alongside guitarist Thom (Aaron Yoo) and lead singer Dev (Rafi Gavron), both of whom are openly gay. When we meet the gang, Nick is considering bailing on a gig at Arlene Grocery in downtown Manhattan because his girlfriend has dumped him, but his friends convince him to rally.

Aaron Yoo, Rafi Gavron, and Michael Cera as The Jerk Offs

Meanwhile, the similarly goofy Norah (Kat Dennings) is convinced by her hard-partying friend to join her for a night in the city, where their favorite band, Where's Fluffy?, is rumored to be playing a secret show.

It turns out that the third member of their party is Nick's ex, and we learn that while she has been tossing the myriad mix CDs that Nick has been making for her, Norah has been fishing them out of the trash and listening to them. Even before the two ever meet, Nick and Norah's love of music brings them together.

When Norah ends up at Nick's show (where the boys are performing their song "Screw the Man") and meets him, the night kicks off, leading to all kinds of misunderstandings, sticky situations, and of course a slowly emerging romance between the two.

And Thom and Dev (who has found a Prince Charming of his own in the form of a scrappy blond played by Spring Awakening's Jonathan B. Wright) are along for the ride, at turns giving their rebounding pal pep talks and trying to get the two awkward lovebirds together.