“Nimrods” Can’t Make Mainstream Punk
Millennials will remember the Green Day album that best exemplified their teen angst. For me, it was American Idiot, but ’90s albums like Dookie and Nimrod were what brought them into popular culture. That’s the rub, isn’t it? It’s not punk or cool to be well-known, but that’s also the only real way to make a living as an artist. That begs the question: how does a punk band stay punk in a broken, capitalist society? One thing’s for sure, making a movie about how punk rock you are doesn’t scream scrappy DIY band. Sadly, with the upcoming Nimrods, Green Day might have lost their edge.
Courtesy of Inaugural Entertainment
The Analog Dogs are your neighborhood high school garage band. Tommy (Mason Thames) and Fred (Kylr Coffman) make up two-thirds of the band. They live the punk rock lifestyle…as much as any suburban high schooler can. Their drummer, Chad (Ryan Foust), is a goody two-shoes who would rather do extra homework than find a way to skip school. The trio meet Green Day (played by themselves) at a record store, where they give them a copy of their demo. Tommy’s older brother, Wayne (Keen Ruffalo), decides to play a prank and make his little brother believe Green Day wants them to open for their New Year’s Eve concert in Los Angeles. Filled with teenage confidence, the Analog Dogs hit the road.
The magic of a road trip movie is that it somehow finds a balance between the quiet introspection that comes from the open road and the bizarre hijinks that happen in the middle of nowhere. Nimrods can’t seem to find that balance. Any character development comes in fast fits of rage, usually with the boys yelling at one another. The ragtag group of young actors are solid, which makes this frustrating. They’re clearly capable of more, but aren’t given a lot to work with. More attention is paid to the variety of Office stars who have cameos along the way.
Courtesy of Inaugural Entertainment
It’s hard to make a movie about the spirit of punk rock when a logo for Live Nation Studios pops up before the film begins. There’s no doubt that Green Day has a legacy in music, they are a band who has pushed the needle forward, but Nimrods simplifies the nature of being a small, indie band. That’s not to say there cannot be a story that uses Green Day’s music — the Broadway adaptation of American Idiot manages to capture the essence of the early days of the band without feeling contrived. At every turn in Nimrods, the boys are presented with opportunities to showcase how great a band they are. And they are pretty good, but it’s not interesting to watch their career grow with this small amount of friction. They’re invited to play at a random party in Oklahoma and they also win a battle of the bands contest in a bar. Even though they have roadblocks, things feel too easy. A lack of money is solved by a credit card in someone’s wallet, a broken car is quickly replaced with an ice cream truck, the list goes on.
For a band that really had to grind for their success, Nimrods is too breezy. Its edges aren’t rough enough to be an ode to a counterculture lifestyle and genre of music. The edgiest thing the boys in this movie do, aside from driving across the country, is reject modern technology. Nimrods needs more bite to match the fervor of the punks who paved the way.
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