The Mac Weekly

Issue date: 10/10/08 Section: The Arts

Media Credit: www.cinematical.com

Recently, I asked a friend if he thought there would come a time when we'd stop being interested in movies about teenagers. "No, never," he said; then changed his mind. "Well, maybe when we're 40?" We contemplated the genre's expiration, deciding 40 seemed like the right time to finally get over high school. But if "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" is an indicator of the future of teen movies, we'll be missing some spectacular films once we're over the hill.

The latest from "Raising Victor Vargas" director Peter Sollett, "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" is a playful, coming-of-age romantic comedy about two loveable music nerds, plagued by the ups and downs of adolescent relationships. It's enough to make you vomit, right? Wrong. Somehow, "Nick and Norah" pulls it off. The love story is sweet without being sticky, the character development is spot-on and the cast is unrivaled.

Michael Cera plays Nick, a creative, misunderstood high school senior with a spot in a queercore rock band and serious girlfriend troubles. Freshly dumped by his malicious, superficial girlfriend, Tris (Lifetime movie veteran Alexis Dziena), Nick nurses his broken heart by sending Tris forlorn mix CDs and lengthy voicemails. His theatrically flamboyant gay bandmates convince him to spend a night in New York City, playing a gig and chasing down their mysterious favorite band. Meanwhile, Tris throws the mix CDs into the garbage, and they find their way into the hands of her sweet-natured frenemy, Norah, played by Kat Dennings. Norah becomes infatuated for the man behind the mix CDs, and a bizarre twist of fate leads everyone to the same rock club on the same evening. What follows is a wild night of matchmaking, chasing after Norah's drunk friend, impromptu rock concerts, multiple breakups and hookups and ultimately, an impossibly cute but complicated romance between Nick and Norah.

Cera has perfected his character role of the adorably awkward, quiet nerd just waiting for the right girl to love him back. I want to resist the Cera trend. I want to deny his heartthrob status and refuse to follow the masses of girls who've fallen in love with him. Unfortunately, Cera-as-Nick swept me off my feet. By the end of the movie, my question wasn't the typical, post-romantic comedy "why don't I have a boyfriend," but rather, "why hasn't Michael Cera called me yet?"

Although Nick resembles Cera's past characters, such as Evan in "Superbad" and Paulie Bleeker in "Juno," something about Cera's performance in "Nick and Norah" stands out. His humor is more subtle; his admirable qualities minimized as he thinks with his penis and chases his god-awful ex-girlfriend. But Nick is so believable, it's hard to see where he ends and Cera begins.

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