Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist directed by Peter Sollett

• Plot summary: Nick plays guitar in a band called the Jerk Offs. His girlfriend, Tris, broke up with him recently and he's not recovering well. Norah is a girl at his school who happens to be at his show the night they play. At the show, Tris makes fun of Norah, and in order to get her to be quiet, she walks up to Nick and asks him to pretend to be her boyfriend for the night. And she kisses him. Jealousy sparked, Tris is interested in how the two met, since Tris knows both Nick and Norah but has never heard them talk about each other. They're not able to explain themselves well but spend the rest of the evening traipsing around New York looking for a secret show and trying to get to know each other better. Will Nick ever be able to let go of Tris long enough to get to know Norah in earnest?
• Critical evaluation: Though a bit contrived, the scenarios that put Nick and Norah in the same place at the same time are funny and interesting. One might chalk their uncanny ability to miss all the cues of being interested in one another to being nervous around each other, and as the night progresses, one can't help but hope that the two will end up together, no matter how much Tris tries to keep Nick from letting go. This was an enjoyable film and it was easy to forgive it's flaws.
• Reader's annotation: Nick and Norah might end up together, if they could just get end up in the same place at the same time, in the same frame of mind.
• About the director: Peter Sollett's past projects include Raising Victor Vargas and Five Feet High and Rising.
• Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
• Curriculum ties, if any: None
• Reading level/interest age: This film is rated PG-13, but I think even younger people might enjoy this film.
• Challenge issues: Sexuality, profanity, substance usage
• Why was this item included? The film is based on a young adult novel by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan.