The annoying 'Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie'
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Great news: The most irritating person in “Blackberry” now stars in a riff on “Back to the Future” that essentially feels like if “Popstar” were never funny. Wait, that’s unfair: I laughed twice, very early. Afterwards: agony. It’s almost impressive to make a comedy this bad.
The concept is obnoxious within seconds: A band that for some reason thinks it’s funny to be called Nirvanna the Band (an extra N, brilliant!) but has no identifiable material to play is desperate to book a show at Toronto’s Rivoli theater, which at no point it seems like they deserve. So Matt (Johnson, who directs and co-writes) and Jay (co-writer Jay McCarrol) scheme to land the show based on nonsensical marketing (skydiving into a Blue Jays game) or, sigh, inventing a time travel machine because yet another movie about time travel is totally what we need right now.
Oh, they also go back to 2008 because Johnson (again, maker of “Blackberry”) is apparently stuck in that period and thinks anyone will care about mentions of era-specific acts like Peter, Bjorn and John or The Rapture. Nope, very happy we’re years past those mediocrities, thanks.
It’s worth repeating: Some actors you watch and think, “That person’s got it.” Johnson is the opposite. Not since Nia Vardalos has the star of a movie given off such a clear odor of unqualified. His character in “NTBTSTM” is nothing but tiresome except for when he’s also selfish, and there is never any reason to care about what happens to these dopes or root for them. Perhaps devoted fans of “Nirvanna the Band the Show” will insist the movie fantastically adapts the series to feature length. For someone who hasn’t seen the show, the film is near-unwatchable.
You decide if your favorite part is the Bill Cosby impression or the numerous, pointless shots of confused strangers on the street unclear what these guys are doing. You can also wonder why the duo wrote zero supporting characters of note or why the film is so brazenly ignorant about music, news, and, honestly, comedy.
This is one of the best-reviewed movies of the year, and calling it amateur hour would be an insult to amateurs who show potential.
D
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