7/12 ForReel Score | 3.5/5 Stars

Throughout my life I have been inundated with biopics and nostalgia pieces about musicians I couldn’t care less about. No disrespect to the work of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen or Elvis or the occasionally great films spawned from it - but they simply aren’t artists who made a mark on me. This makes the prospect of Nimrods (formerly titled New Years Rev when it premiered at TIFF 2025), a coming of age story centered on Green Day fans, particularly enticing to me. I worshiped these guys in my teenage years. They were one of the bands my friends and I would listen to while driving way too fast, way too late, screeching the lyrics over the blasting radio. On that note, Lee Kirk’s film started out with a bit of a heartbreak for me. Nimrods is not a period piece chronicling what it was like to be a Green Day fan at the peak of their popularity. Instead, it tells a contemporary story that traces their impact on a new generation. However, once I got over my mild bitterness, I found myself charmed by this chaotic road trip that does indeed take many cues from the likes of Almost Famous or Sing Street.

Image courtesy of Inaugural Entertainment

We follow the adventures of high school punk band Analog Dogs, often misheard as Anal Dogs. Tommy (Mason Thames) is the group’s ornery frontman, channeling grief over his dead father into a rebellious persona with very clear seams. Bass player Fred (Kylr Coffman) and drummer Chad (Ryan Foust) are far less angsty and approach the band with an adolescent sense of play. After Tommy and Fred break into a meet and greet with Green Day (playing themselves) to give them their demo, Tommy’s irritating brother Wayne (Keen Ruffalo) and his buddy Keith (Ignacio Diaz-Silverio) smell an opportunity. Keith calls Tommy impersonating Tré Cool to trick Analog Dogs into thinking that Green Day wants them to open their New Years Eve concert in LA. Calling their bluff - the boys steal Wayne’s barely functional taxi cab and embark on a desperate cross country road trip from Kansas City with $75 between them and a dream.

Although I’ve enjoyed Mason Thames’ work in The Black Phone franchise, Nimrods is the first time I’ve truly believed in his movie star potential. He anchors this film perfectly by embodying a particularly transparent brand of teenage aggression. Tommy is far more concerned with being a leader than a friend but Thames shows us both his obliviousness and kindness. We see why Fred and Chad want to follow him on this adventure even if they don’t really have the stomachs for it. Sadly, Coffman and Foust’s performances pale in comparison. Thames is playing a character who could work in a Richard Linklater or Cameron Crowe film. Coffman and Foust are cartoon characters who would be more at home in Disney Channel’s Bizaardvark. They considerably sand down the film’s intended edge, entirely out of place delivering the R-Rated dialogue. Their cheesy demeanor tracks for their characters but they oversell it. There’s also a few vexing cameos from Fred Armisen, Bobby Lee and Sean Gunn, all of whom stop the film dead in its tracks with their unfunny bits.

It becomes all the more annoying to spend time with these dweebs when McKenna Grace slides into the story for its best stretch. She plays fellow rocker Olivia who Tommy decides to take a lengthy detour to see perform at a skate park after a chance gas station encounter. Grace is effortlessly cool and shares a palpable real life chemistry with Thames that leaps off the screen. Olivia is also a softer soul than Tommy, but unlike Fred and Chad, fits perfectly into the more adult vibe that Lee Kirk is shooting for. Sadly, Olivia has to babysit her sister and cannot come along for the film’s second half which becomes driven by the band’s squabbling and wavering. She would’ve nicely balanced this segment and is sorely missed.

Although Lee Kirk finds himself not entirely sure if Nimrods is for younger or older teens, this is still a slick and relatable portrait of Green Day’s enduring fandom. I often feel so removed from the young people I’m exposed to via movies but here I see a new iteration of the outcasts I grew up amongst. It could’ve been a modern classic if it wasn’t so concerned with being a polished promo for the band. It never hits any of the political notes of their music, we can probably thank Live Nation Studios for that. Even so, it does continue to re-endeer me to them following their excellent 2024 album Saviors. I suspect this is not the last film we will see about them.

Movie Review: "Nimrods" Pays Homage To The Next Generation of Basket Cases