Nirvana The Band The Show The Movie: A Review

Nirvana The Band The Show The Movie (Currently In Theatres Check Your Listings) 

Dir: Matt Johnson 

Runtime: 102 Minutes 

    Having no idea or concept of the ideas behind the premise of Nirvana The Band The Show from creative duo Matt Johnson and Jay McCarroll, led me to do a deep dive into the content of the internet webseries before the release of the film. I could not fathom what I would end up watching, but from the get-go, I was hooked and locked in. What can be described as the absurdity of Bo Burnham’s crooning song internet comedy, Johnson is the more outlandish, and McCarroll is the more reserved, serious as two roommates who create Nirvana The Band. The premise is simple: to get booked to perform at the “elusive” venue, The Rivoli in Toronto. The catch is that they have never written a song, and they have never contacted the management team of The Rivoli to get booked. They use more guerrilla-style warfare hijinx to try to make their presence known to no avail, it seems, after all these years.  Each episode parodies a famous television show or movie from Frasier, CSI Miami, Lost and The Wire. This spoke to my popular culture lexicon, and I was transfixed as I got the meta humour of the series. The Canadian content of the series shines through when, in an episode, both Matt and Jay meet with Ronnie Hawkins from The Band to get him to release the rights of the title The Band to them, leaving out the fact that Nirvana is also part of the title. Too bad Courtney Love is unaware of the band’s existence.  For this iconic duo, a part of Canadian Pop Culture, there needed to be the perfect send-off. Cue Nirvana, The Band. The Show. The Movie. It made its debut earlier this February as part of the Cineplex Mystery Movie Monday showcase. 

    Even though I haven't seen the post-web series, the movie picks up where old habits die hard as the duo once again attempts their fate at getting booked at The Rivoli. How are you going to do this in a motion picture? Do it with the most outlandish stunt coordination to get the attention of all of Toronto by skydiving off the CN Tower into the Rogers Center Skydome when it is open during a baseball game. Not to give away the ending to this play, but the creative forces go back to the drawing board, and this time it is a time machine that the outlandish Matt hatches a la Back To The Future, which Jay starts to question when it is enough with the hijinx plans to call it a day and possibly quits. Jay starts looking at booking solo gigs at an open mic slot in Ottawa and is amazed by how easy he can get in, thinking it’s a serious gig after all these years. All I can say is that Matt goes through with his plan to make a time travel machine, which involves a trailer and one last bottle of Orbitz beverages, cue the Canadian central pop culture reference, and the duo end up time-travelling back to 2008 when both enter the RV, not suspecting the other one to be there.

The meta culture of 2008 is on full display as both Matt and Jay discover that the bottle of Orbitz, lightning in a bottle, is the key to the time machine and in 2008, it is a hot commodity that Matt is flush with. Matt and Jay go to their 2008 apartment, inevitably running not only into the bottle of Orbitz but also their younger selves, henceforth the playing with time travel paradox of codes and rules. Some interactions between their past and the future self sees Jay changing the course of his destiny by writing something on the whiteboard that will alter the future. The duo comes back to a different 2025. 

Jay's alternative plans have worked so it seems because he is now a very successful musician living in a mansion, and Matt is the drummer in a Jay McCarroll cover band. Matt confronts Jay at a concert, but Jay says he doesn't know Matt and has no knowledge of the time machine. Feeling that this is the best possible outcome for his life, Jay smashes the last bottle of the discounted Orbitz beverage so the time machine will no longer have the lightning it runs on. Jay finds out how lonesome and hollow being in a successful band can be and decides to play a game with his bandmates that leads to a tragic accident. Now on the run from the law, Jay realizes that he made a crucial mistake playing with time and needs Matt’s help for the duo to go back to 2008 and fix their mistakes. 

    Nirvana, The Band, The Show, The Movie continues to have all the meta-cultural references that the web series was known for, being a strong comedic focal point and being clearly Canadian. What I think the movie integrates well is the participation from actual people on the streets who might be aware or new to the antics of Matt and Jay.  Matt and Jay have to be an iconic Canadian friendship duo, for better or for worse, and this movie provides the perfect epic conclusion to their friendship. The film goes to prove there is no Jay without a bit of Matt in your life. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Remi is the host of At The Movies along with regular Co-Host Danny Aubery every Tuesday morning from 9-10 AM only on CJLO 1690 AM. They cover local film festivals, have interviews with directors and actors, and talk about a new film or the classics. They also cover the iconic sounds of present and past film scores and soundtracks. Follow Remi on Letterboxd.