The problem with most movie romances -- the thing that makes so many of them tough to sit through -- is that you're usually just waiting for the couple to get on with it and realize they're made for each other, so you can go home and continue about your business.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, director Peter Sollett's follow-up to his debut Raising Victor Vargas, is, on the surface, another one of those movies. You have Nick (Michael Cera), the sole straight member of a gay punk-rock band, and you have Norah (Kat Dennings), the sole Jewish girl in a Catholic high school. They are kindred spirits -- outcasts even within the carefully constructed universes adolescents build for themselves.

Even if the film's title hadn't already keyed you in on it, you'd know Nick and Norah are destined to fall in love before the night in Infinite Playlist is over. The multitude of obstacles that stand in their way -- Nick's lingering crush on his manipulative ex-girlfriend Tris (Alexis Dziena), or Norah's best friend Caroline (Ari Graynor), who has gotten disastrously drunk and wandered off into big, bad New York City -- will be overcome before the sun rises.

The plot centers on Nick and Norah's quixotic quest to find out where their favorite band, the underground group Where's Fluffy, is performing a secret gig. But it's merely a means for the two teens to discover each other. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, which was adapted from the beloved young adult novel by first-time screenwriter Lorene Scafaria, has the comic sensibility and warmth of character of vintage John Hughes films.

But much like he did in Victor Vargas, director Sollett adds a humanistic layer of insight and wisdom to the story that transcends teen-pic formulas. There are countless little moments in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist -- Nick using his Yugo's windshield wipers to clear away a lipstick smear, the silent look between two girls that expresses the end of their friendship and the beginning of a rivalry -- that resonate with heartache and exhilaration. The movie is filled with wonderful music, memorable characters and rich, quotable dialogue (''I refuse to be the goody bag at your pity party.'') But what makes the picture really soar is the way it reminds you what it feels like to fall in love -- and the endless, countless possibilities a new romance brings.

Cast: Michael Cera, Kat Dennings, Aaron Yoo, Rafi Gavron, Ari Graynor, Alexis Dziena, Zachary Booth, Jay Baruchel

Director: Peter Sollett

Screenwriter: Lorene Scafaria. Based on the novel by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan.

A Columbia Pictures release. Running time: 90 minutes. Vulgar language, sexual situations, adult themes. Playing at area theaters.

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