A funny movie about American Idiots.
“Nimrods” is another one of those coming-of-age road trip movies with cliches, but a number of funny and tender moments. If you happen to be a Green Day fan like I am, then you’d be pleased to know that the story is inspired by Green Day’s early rise to fame before their “Dookie” album. If a comedy is produced by Green Day and likes the band, then it wants us to like itself. And we do like it.
We meet three Kansas City musicians who have a band called Analog Dogs, which is why they use analog equipment to record their music. They have the 90s camcorder and cassette records to help bring their music career on track. And to introduce you to them, Tommy (Mason Thames) lives with taxi driving brother Wayne (Keen Ruffalo, son of Mark Ruffalo) and their dorky mom (Jenna Fischer), Fred (Kylr Coffman) is the dumbest one with green dyed hair, and Chad (Ryan Foust) is the nerdy, smart and more responsible one.
Tommy and Fred meet Green Day at a meet and greet to give them a demo record. Think back to “The King of Comedy” when Rupert Pupkin got the opportunity to meet comedian Jerry Langford. And think to the results of what is about to happen in the story. When Tommy leaves Wayne on their roof when he was working on Christmas decorations, he decides to get back at him by having his dumb friend Keith (Ignacio Diaz-Silverio) call them as Tre Cool and tell them he wants them to open for Green Day on New Year’s Eve. So they steal his cab and take the road trip.
They have many detours, which has them performing at a biker bar (with cameos by Angela Kinsey and Sean Gunn), Tommy having a crush on another rocker named Olivia (McKenna Grace), the obligatory Magic mushrooms kicking in, and the creepy motel manager (Fred Armisen) being in the mix. And even with the older brother finding out that his brother has gone to LA, the results aren’t mean-spirited. That’s something I think the cops in “Super Troopers 3” need to think about.
I was thinking back to the crappy reboot of “House Party,” which had two cleaners throwing a party at LeBron James’ mansion, while he was away. Not only did it feature the obligatory cliches of a raunchy comedy, but also the execution of when they meet LeBron at the worst possible time was crass. “Nimrods” has its mean behaviors as we’re introduced to the young musicians, but it’s far from a crass movie. It knows how to handle the comedy, tone, and celebrities.
Thames, Coffman, and Foust are all very funny and likable with how they ease into their characters. Two of them want to be like jerky rock stars, and one of them doesn’t feel like he has what it takes to be one. But they all work as if they’re somehow descendants of the guys from “Clerks” or Jack Black and Kyle Gass’ band Tenacious D. Actually, this is a Green Day movie, so they must be like Billie Joe Armstrong, Tre Cool, or Mike Dirnt.
The better movie this year about musicians is “Power Ballad,” which I feel sorry for those who failed to take my advice to see it in theaters. It had its humor and heart in the right place, and didn’t care for clichés. “Nimrods” has its formulas, but it still wants to be as funny and good-hearted as it can be. I was laughing at the bantering and stupidity (the best regards some gas station moments), and I was also was rooting for Analog Dogs to make it big. Cassettes and camcorders can still be used today, and these guys make them still look cool.
