‘Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie’ review

There’s a part of me that wants to go back in a time machine and prevent myself from finding Nirvanna the Band the Show in 2020. While there’s undeniable satisfaction in discovering an obscure, unique voice in comedy years before the masses do, it’s nothing compared to the joy in experiencing it for the first time with an audience. I saw Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie with a friend who’d never heard of the show, and I was so jealous of his ecstatic laughter and shock each time Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol threw a new comedic element onto an already stacked pile of inventive bits. Even though I was already familiar with the duo’s unique blend of mockumentary, sketch comedy, parody, happy accidents, and borderline-illegal stunts, they still managed to surprise me with their skill at stretching the limits of comedic filmmaking.

There’s something undeniable in the enjoyment of watching NtBtStM. Even if you don’t find Johnson and McCarrol’s improvised banter funny, you can’t deny the pure invention and imagination on display. You’re introduced to a duo of young guys having fun with a camera in their tiny apartment, coming up with overly elaborate schemes to get their band a show at the modest-looking music venue The Rivoli. There’s something endearingly childlike about their logic of taking the longest, most arduous road to accomplish something that could easily be solved with a phone call. But when you cut to the two of them executing their latest scheme, which involves jumping off the tallest tower in Toronto, you can’t believe how far they’re able to push the boundaries of stunt filmmaking while sticking to their discreet candid camera techniques. When the two of them cut the harnesses protecting them from a near 1,000ft drop, my friend gasped and covered his mouth. At that point, all bets are off, and you can’t wait to see what they do next and if they’re capable of topping such an insane feat.

What follows is a series of “how did they do that?” set pieces. NtBtStM harkens back to the old-school philosophy of movie-making as a kind of magic trick, something I’ve taken for granted with the plateaued quality of modern CGI. Johnson and McCarrol manage to keep you off guard with the amount of stunts they’re able to pull off by sticking to their lo-fi aesthetic of two friends making a home movie with their handheld camera. Whether it’s giant billboards that place you back in 2008, seamless transitions to the past in a beat-up RV, or the two leads interacting with their younger selves in videos they shot nearly 20 years ago, you’ll be amazed at what these two goofballs on a shoestring budget can accomplish.

What’s even more impressive is their skill at incorporating copyrighted material into the film’s central premise. Amid all this DIY filmmaking, Johnson crafts a loving homage to Back to the Future, complete with seamless recreations of the props, special effects, and nail-biting climax. If you’re familiar with the show, this concept is nothing new, as Johnson and McCarrol parody their favorite movies and TV shows every episode. But with a feature length runtime at their disposal, the duo takes their tribute to one of the all-time classics and squeezes every possible fish-out-of-water gag they can out of traveling back to 2008. The standout set piece by far is Johnson catching an early screening of The Hangover and realizing something’s off when he sees how the audience reacts to one particular joke that’s aged like milk. Like the CN Tower jump, this scene creates a giddy anticipation for more jokes in the same vein.

I would be content with an endless series of sight gags featuring now-canceled celebrities on bus advertisements, but Johnson and McCarrol go a step further by using their time-travel premise to explore how lifelong friendships change over time. Johnson is content with 17 years of failed schemes to achieve overnight fame, while McCarrol feels disillusioned with his lot in life. This conflict drives both leads to make rash decisions that create deep rifts in their friendship and time itself. But throughout the film, the two sprinkle in genuine declarations of love and loyalty. Their heartfelt partnership ties into the film's overall purity and creates a lovable vibe that’s hard to mock or dismiss as infantile.

Johnson and McCarrol treat their outlandish escapades as everyday occurrences. There’s no reflection on near-death experiences or discovering the secret to time travel. They simply go with the flow as if there’s nothing strange about interacting with a younger version of your best friend. What’s the next scheme we can get up to? That childlike outlook takes you back to your own childhood, when you and your friends had boundless imaginations that could take you on far-out adventures. Just because the two leads have bags under their eyes and greying hair doesn’t make their own adventure any less endearing.

★★★★½