‘Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie’ is a Cinematic Miracle
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie is Matt Johnson’s continuation of the television series of the same name, which follows the fictitious antics of Johnson and his best friend Jay McCarrol as they attempt (and fail) to book a show at The Rivoli, as if the Toronto-based café was as complex to book as Madison Square Garden. Before propelling into the film’s climax, the writer/director addresses the audience with one of the most self-aware monologues in the history of cinema, after flaunting the ethics of copyright infringement in the TV show that made you wonder how in the hell he got away with it.
He says, “This is going to be a copyright nightmare. If you’re watching this in a theatre right now, thank your lucky stars, because it’s going to be the only showing ever.”
While each episode of Nirvanna the Band the Show riffed on a specific film or television show in ways that could potentially avoid massive legal troubles (except when they filmed Star Wars: The Force Awakens in its entirety on opening night, in a packed IMAX 3D cinema, to get purposefully kicked out of the Scotiabank Theatre), The Movie cranks everything to the eleventh power. In the film, a time travel story is crafted that’s so unabashed in its celebration of Robert Zemeckis’ Back to the Future, it feels unreal that it’s even on our screens.
Just like the show, the movie blurs the line between the artifice of scripted entertainment and real-life antics. They adapt the scenario of Matt and Jay attempting their most ambitious plan yet: booking a show at The Rivoli, based on what people caught on camera will say or do. It somehow feels more dangerous and unethical than several “hidden camera” prank films that were released in recent memory, notably Jeff Tremaine’s Academy Award-nominated Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa and Kitao Sakurai’s Bad Trip. But that’s precisely why it works and why it may very well be the decade’s funniest and most cinematically exhilarating comedy (so far).
Fans of the show will, obviously, be satisfied at seeing Matt and Jay refusing to evolve and creating wild “plans” that are so far-fetched to book a show at a restaurant when it’d be much easier to call and ask if space is available. Anyone who hasn’t seen Nirvanna the Band the Show may not understand some of the deeper references Johnson and McCarrol make in the film. However, there’s so much here that works without having even seen (or heard of) an episode of the series that it almost doesn’t matter if you’re completely unfamiliar with the source material or Canadiana as a whole.
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie is a Canadian masterpiece
That said, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie may be the most significant piece of Canadian art released in the past ten years. It pushes the boundaries of the cinematic medium in ways few artists of the country dare to do. Johnson’s love of film and popular culture is evident from the moment his film goes back to the year 2008, after Matt accidentally builds a working time machine by following the instructions laid out by Christopher Lloyd’s Doctor Emmett Brown in Back to the Future.
He also isn’t afraid to provoke, crafting a bevy of jokes that, in hindsight, make us quickly realize how problematic 2008 was. Matt picks up a magazine with sex offender Bill Cosby prominently featured on its cover, followed by a billboard with Jian Ghomeshi’s face plastered on it. He was eventually accused of rape and sexual harassment, leading to his dismissal at CBC in 2014.
What makes Matt realize, however, that he has traveled back in time may be one of the funniest moments of self-realization that Todd Phillips’ The Hangover is a really bad film. I wouldn’t dare spoil what will arguably be one of the greatest documents of an era we’d desperately like to go back to, but, in hindsight, it might be better if we leave it in the rearview mirror once and for all.
It must be seen to be believed. Scratch that, this entire movie will leave you in a total state of disbelief at how Matt Johnson seemingly got away with so much that you might respect the object alone as a result. That said, if you go along for the ride, what you may find inside Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie is a story of an enduring friendship that’s well worth fixing a fractured past for.
Matt Johnson gleefully celebrates cinema and outsider art
Johnson has never forgotten his DIY roots as an artist (with McCarrol and cinematographer Jared Raab by his side), and he even has prominent independent filmmakers, such as Ethan Eng (Therapy Dogs) and Ben Petrie (The Heirloom), appear in small roles. For the film to not only act as a celebration of the series but of Canadian outsider art as a whole.
Of course, he owes much of the success of the series to the form-blurring experiments of Jackass, but Nirvanna is so much more than this. Describing it in words would rob you of the pleasures of seeing a film that goes in one unexpected direction after another. One bit, in particular, is the hardest I’ve laughed in front of anything in a (very) long time and flaunts an even bigger ethical line, as it was captured near Drake’s mansion shortly after the shooting of one of his security guards.
If this doesn’t accurately depict the insanity that is Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, I don’t know what will. It continuously teeters on the line between what is socially acceptable to do in the realm of hidden camera comedies and what will arguably get you slapped with a massive lawsuit. Johnson, though, understands that for the medium of cinema to advance into territories it’s never explored before, some copyright laws need to be broken. Of course, if it’s in the realm of “fair use” (which doesn’t seem like it, but the loophole seemed good enough for NEON), even better.
That said, it still feels like something bound for lengthy court cases when it reaches an earned conclusion, despite doing anything but satisfyingly reaching Matt and Jay’s ultimate goal. Simply put, you’ve never seen anything quite like Nirvanna the Band the Show (and The Movie). There isn’t anything like it, and there definitely won’t be a worthy successor anytime soon. But whoever attempts to follow in Matt Johnson’s footsteps better have rock-solid lawyers at the ready.
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