'Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie' review: an independent 'Back to the Future'

Whether you're already in or new to the party, the Canadian meta-comedy “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie,” about the epic discovery of a musical duo, shows little audience favoritism as it oscillates between timelines, formats, realities, cultural accolades and its two indefatigable lead characters. There are four protagonists, as director and co-writer Matt Johnson and his composer and best friend Jay McCarrol play themselves twice, thanks to archival footage presented in this energetic mockumentary as evidence of time travel.

Don't be confused. Or rather, get confused but adventurously! Especially if you're not familiar with the cult web series this movie is derived from. Viewers who love independent film may know Johnson's work from the moon landing conspiracy “Operation Avalanche” or the brash documentary drama “BlackBerry,” both of which he directed and acted in. But there's no getting around the fact that if you haven't encountered them before, then for quite a while they'll be appearing as the Motormouth Clown in a Fedora (Johnson) and the Discreet Guy at the Piano (McCarrol).

With three N's in their band's name (unrelated to a slightly better-known group), a long-held dream of booking a live performance venue in Toronto, and only a messy suburban house to show for it, the duo's act seems to be mostly coming up with wild ideas for exposure. Johnson's latest inspiration is to parachute from the top of downtown Toronto's 2,000-foot CN Tower into the open Rogers Center arena below, a plan that meets the hilariously alarmed concern of a very real hardware store employee. It is the first of many encounters with unsuspecting citizens, in the style of the work of Sacha Baron Cohen.

Although his trick fails, but succeeds for us as a piece of guerilla movie magic, it propels Johnson toward an even crazier notion: traveling back in time in an RV to 2008 to change his destinies and ensure his inevitable fame. Think about “Back to the Future” and think about it a lot, since from now on, that 1985 classic becomes the lodestar of this film's structural, comic and musical reference. (McCarrol's pleasingly over-the-top orchestral score pays homage to composer Alan Silvestri.)

That the filmmakers could play against themselves using clips from the 2008 versions of their characters (when they had the web series) is undeniably clever, if not always the laugh it promises to be. But it also helps fuel the jealousy-driven farce that takes over the current narrative and is genuinely funny: a reset timeline in which McCarrol becomes a big pop star and Johnson is left behind.

Invariably, these outlandish scenarios will be more fun for longtime fans, for whom a frenetic climax similar to the “Back to the Future” ending where lightning meets DeLorean will play as nostalgia for nostalgia's sake. However, to the uninitiated, even amid constant laughter and a sneaking worry that this silly friendship will be corrected, it can seem like so much noise and noise about who knows what.

But Johnson is nothing more than a blunt emcee with deadpan humor, and his grab-bag mentality generates enough goodwill to appreciate the DIY chutzpah of it all. I'm one of those who had no idea about the history of this act and I'm pretty sure I would look forward to “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie the Sequel.”