Nimrods hits theaters on August 14.
By Elazar Abrahams
Your enjoyment of Nimrods will probably depend on one very simple factor: your level of Greenday fandom.
Now, I’m not anti the band. I know the famous hits as much as anyone who has spent time near a radio, but I’m not an in-the-know fan, couldn’t name a single deep cut, and certainly don’t leave and breathe Greenday, which becomes a bit of an issue when watching a coming-of-age movie built around characters who absolutely do.
Directed and written by Lee Kirk, Nimrods follows three 17-year-old friends from Kansas City, Tommy, Fred, and Chad, played by Mason Thames, Kylr Coffman, and Ryan Foust, whose band sets out on a cross-country road trip to Los Angeles after they mistakenly believe they have been chosen to open for Green Day on New Year’s Eve. The film is inspired by the band’s early years touring in a van before they became global stars, and Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tré Cool also appear in the movie.
That last part is not incidental. This is not a movie that happens to have some Green Day needle drops. This is branded as a “Green Day movie.” The kids worship them. The road trip is built around them. The band members eventually show up and at a certain point, the third act basically becomes an extended Green Day concert, complete with multiple songs performed on screen. If you are a fan, that may be exactly what you want.
For me, that was a bit of a barrier. The rocker stuff is clearly the movie’s emotional engine, but because I do not have a deep personal connection to the band, those moments did land like they will for many others. I understood why the characters cared and I understood why fans in the audience would care. I just did not feel it myself.
That is not to say there is nothing here. Thames, Coffman, and Foust are likable as the central trio, and they give the movie enough youthful energy to keep it moving. Their friendship is simple, but believable enough for a road-trip comedy. You get why they would pack into a van together, make a series of terrible decisions, and convince themselves that this ridiculous dream might actually happen.
Mckenna Grace is also a clear standout, even though she is not in the movie for that long. Her section gives the film a little spark, and she has an easy screen presence that makes you wish the movie found a way to use her more. She brings a sharper, more grounded energy to a story that can otherwise drift into very familiar teen-comedy territory.
That’s the biggest problem here. Once you strip away the Green Day fandom, Nimrods is a pretty basic coming-of-age road movie with a familiar structure and emotional beats. The big third-act reconciliation, especially the material involving an older and younger brother dynamic, feels particularly hacky.
If you love Green Day, add at least a full letter grade. If you do not, your opinion may look a lot more like mine.
I give Nimrods a C+.
