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Nimrods Review: American Idiots on the Road
Nimrods is a classic road trip comedy in that it’s pretty clear that the central characters are chasing a delusional dream. In this case, it’s high school punk trio Analog Dogs honestly believing that Green Day would invite them to drive from Kansas City to Los Angeles to open for them on New Year’s Eve. Out of the three of them, only drummer Chad (Ryan Foust, The Goldfinch) thinks this may be screwy. Vocalist/bassist Tommy (Mason Thames, Black Phone, the upcoming Idiots) and green-haired guitarist Fred (Kylr Coffman) have fallen for a prank played by Tommy’s surly older brother, Wayne (Keen Ruffalo, Hal & Harper), and are quite happy to suffer a series of indignities and misadventures in search of cool times and their big break.
Look, no offense to Green Day, who are by all reports terrifically nice people and have been extremely successful in bringing their brand of So-Cal pop punk to the masses. But it’s a little self-indulgent to think that a trio of Midwestern kids would be so dedicated to a band that had their own Broadway musical. Not in this day and age. OK, maybe Chad, but he’s pretty square. The idea of Green Day being that cool seems a bit of a stretch, and at least Metallica went hog wild with their 2014 metal fantasy, Through the Never. This is more like if 1999’s similarly themed Detroit Rock City had its young rockers dedicated to Kiss in the perpetual farewell tour stage of their career and not circa Alive II. But look, everyone knows this is a vanity project, even if it comes from one of the humbler stadium acts out there.
What Nimrods really depends on is the charm of the three boys on the road trip as they hit every predictable beat (especially predictable if you’ve seen Detroit Rock City, because there’s no getting away from the comparisons if you have). Luckily, and unlike the real experiences of every touring band stuck in a small vehicle, mile after mile, they actually become more endearing on that long and winding road.
Much like the inevitably Green Day-heavy soundtrack, there’s a greatest hits feel to the story by director Lee Kirk (The Giant Mechanical Man) and the band themselves, all leading to the inevitable highs and lows and highs again of the trio trying to get on stage. Some feel like an unnecessary favor from a friend, like Fred Armisen’s turn as a motel manager that is somehow both understated and overblown at the same time. Others are incredibly derivative, like a stop by a roadside saloon that lifts straight from The Blues Brothers – but hey, if you’re going to steal, steal from the best.
But some of their pit stops are surprisingly charming, like playing a backyard gig after a shy meet-cute with a small-town punk (Mckenna Grace, Regretting You). In moments like these, when Analog Dogs rock out through their rough-and-tumble two-minute bangers, or the inevitable way they come back together as friends during the New Year’s gig, Nimrods hits its target.
Nimrods2026, R, 116 min. Directed by Lee Kirk. Starring Mason Thames, Kylr Coffman, Ryan Foust, Jenna Fischer, Mckenna Grace, Keen Ruffalo, Angela Kinsey, Fred Armisen, Bobby Lee, Sean Gunn, Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 2.5 out of 5.The post Nimrods Review: American Idiots on the Road appeared first on The Austin Chronicle.