If Elvis and The Beatles established that rock stars could do movies and the Spice Girls perfected the “just put the band in a movie and have crazy shit happen around them” formula, Nimrods is basically the pop-punk version of that for a new generation. More specifically, it’s Spice World for straight guys. And honestly? I mean that as a compliment.
Inspired by Green Day’s own early years of being young, hungry, broke, and driving around in a van, Lee Kirk’s Nimrods follows 17-year-old Tommy (played by a magnetic Mason Thames), whose garage band Analog Dogs gets what appears to be the phone call of a lifetime: Green Day wants them to open for them at their New Year’s Eve show at the Hollywood Palladium. There’s just one tiny problem. It’s a prank call.
Obviously, chaos ensues. Being seventeen and naive, Tommy believes it. He steals his brother’s car, grabs his bandmates Fred and Chad, and takes off from Kansas City for Los Angeles with just three days to make the gig. There’s a battle of the bands, mushrooms, a cute love interest, bad decisions and enough Green Day blasting on the soundtrack to make this feel less like a movie about Green Day and more like an extremely expensive fan fever dream.
On one hand, Nimrods is a classic teen coming-of-age comedy about friendship, ambition and that very youthful belief that your entire life could change tomorrow. But on the other hand, it is unapologetic fan service for Green Day diehards. The film is packed with references, music and nods to the band’s early years, clearly designed for people who already know and love Green Day. But also super accessible for younger Green Day fans discovering the band and pop-punk more broadly for the first time. For kids who weren’t around for albums like Dookie or American Idiot, Nimrods is basically an invitation into the Green Day universe.
Mason Thames, Kylr Coffman and Ryan Foust are charming as the fictional band Analog Dogs, and their chemistry gives the movie its heart. The adult cast is stacked with comedy cameos, including Jenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey, Bobby Lee and Fred Armisen. But Green Day themselves are the gravitational centre. Their presence gives Nimrods that same slightly surreal quality that made Spice World so campy and fun. In the moments where the band appears on screen, you don’t find yourself asking, “Can these musicians act?” Rather, it’s, “Wouldn’t it be fun to hang out with them?” The answer, thankfully, is yes.
The soundtrack is pretty Green Day heavy, which makes sense. The movie is about a teenage band that worships Green Day. But it’s fun to hear songs from buzzworthy black pop-punk band The Paradox, actress Mckenna Grace, and the leads of the movie Analog Dogs to round things out. “Dominated Love Slave” stands out as a particularly wacky and scene-stealing Analog Dogs jam.
Nimrods isn’t trying to reinvent the coming-of-age movie. It doesn’t need to. It’s a fun, goofy celebration of friendship, music and the intoxicating possibility of becoming someone else. For longtime Green Day devotees, it’s a nostalgia trip. For younger fans, it’s an entry point. Honestly, we could use more movies that are this unabashedly silly about the idea that rock & roll might still save your life.
You can catch Nimrods in select theatres now.
