Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie: A Long Time Homecoming

While director Matt Johnson and co-writer, co-star Jay McCarrol have never really left Canada during their filmmaking collaborations, this new movie feels like a true homecoming for two creators who may have only just begun to make their presence known worldwide.

Following the success of Johnson’s Blackberry, for which McCarrol did the score, the duo had made their mark on Canada and the world, playing at many prominent international film festivals. This success gave them the great opportunity to do a project with almost limitless creative freedom, as the government-run Telefilm Canada knew that any Canadian movie from these two would be a worthy contribution to the Canadian Arts Canon. The result is a film in which two characters named Matt (Matt Johnson) and Jay (Jay McCarrol) find themselves in a 17-year-long struggle to get a show at Toronto’s not-so-sought-after music venue, The Rivoli. Together, they come up with their most ambitious plan to get a show there. After a series of frantic events, the two find themselves back in the year 2008 and must figure out how to return to their present.

While the plot may sound familiar or unremarkable, it serves merely as a framework for an onslaught of amazing comedy, stunts, and story twists that keep you laughing and invested in what’s coming next. Using a lot of filmmaking trickery, they make you believe the guys are really doing some crazy, illegal things, and the reason it’s so convincing is that other people seem to be witnessing all their wild stunts.

The film is proudly Canadian. Listing the many recognizable Toronto locations would be a whole article in itself. The CN Tower becomes a mainstay, Drake’s house, Yonge-Dundas Square, the Skydome, and more are featured prominently. With Canadian culture all over the film, as well as pop culture references that will delight fans of Back to the Future, the film delivers reference humor and reflexive commentary that many films would not dare to try. It adds to the humor to be familiar with these pop culture elements and Toronto locations, but even if you’ve never been to Toronto, the way they use locations and execute action scenes is unlike anything you’ve seen. It’s a hilarious and exhilarating experience.

What the show Nirvanna the Band the Show—which Matt and Jay are adapting here—always did well was set-ups and pay-offs. Now, with a feature-length film, the movie has much more opportunity to pay off multiple set-ups. The first half is great but contains a lot of set-up, while the second half becomes even more enjoyable because of all the pay-offs you get from paying attention to the first half. Many of the throwaway jokes, statements, or moments from the film’s first act come back to crescendo into a greater joke or pay-off toward the third act. This makes the film a complete experience from start to finish, even as they spend a good amount of time setting up the premise. It makes the film endlessly rewatchable in my opinion, as there is always something new to spot as a set-up for the rest of the plot.

And while it seems like the guys are just doing the most random things, the narrative is so cohesive that all their randomness pays off both narratively and comedically. The music, the use of parody, and clever uses of their real-life interactions help these characters pull off ridiculous pranks, which are really just the characters trying to accomplish their goals. The interactions with real people are often quite funny, and even if they were actors brought in, the approach works so well and is so convincing as a documentary that you don’t really question its authenticity.

What ties the whole film together and keeps you emotionally grounded is the epic friendship between Matt and Jay. Whether they are codependent, destined, or stuck together because the universe demands it, their friendship is what keeps getting challenged and threatened at every turn. Yet through the craziness of this movie, you see how much they are willing to do for one another, even as they fight, bicker, and betray each other. It speaks to the powerful bond of friendship—the way crazy events link you to the people you experience them with and everything that entails. It is a film to see with your best friends, your ride-or-die, or however you want to describe the people in your life who you feel you will be linked to for the rest of your life. In the end, it’s an amazing experience where you are invited to laugh together and enjoy just how ridiculous life can get.