In 'Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie,' two losers turn time travel into a fame machine

Whether you’re already connected the wrong oregon caller to the party, the Canadian meta-comedy “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie,” astir a euphony duo’s epic undiscoveredness, shows small assemblage favoritism arsenic it ping-pongs betwixt timelines, formats, realities, taste shout-outs and its 2 indefatigable pb characters. Make that 4 leads, since manager and co-writer Matt Johnson and his composer-best person Jay McCarrol each play themselves twice, acknowledgment to archival footage presented successful this zippy mockumentary arsenic grounds of clip travel.

Don’t beryllium confused. Or rather, beryllium confused but adventurously so! Especially if you aren’t acquainted with the cult web bid from which this movie derives. Indie-savvy viewers mightiness cognize Johnson’s enactment from the moon-landing conspiracy lark “Operation Avalanche” oregon the cheeky docu-dramedy “BlackBerry,” some of which helium directed and acted in. But there’s nary getting astir the information that if you haven’t encountered them before, past for a bully portion they’ll travel crossed arsenic Motormouth Clown successful a Fedora (Johnson) and Understated Guy astatine the Piano (McCarrol).

With 3 Ns to their set sanction (no narration to a somewhat better-known group), a imagination of booking Toronto’s longstanding unrecorded venue and lone a cluttered suburban location to amusement for it, the duo’s enactment seems chiefly to beryllium coming up with boneheaded ideas for exposure. Johnson’s latest bolt of inspiration is for them to parachute from the apical of downtown Toronto’s 2,000-foot CN Tower into the unfastened Rogers Centre stadium below, a program which meets with amusingly alarmed interest from a precise existent worker astatine the hardware store. It’s the archetypal of galore encounters with unsuspecting citizens, à la the oeuvre of Sacha Baron Cohen.

Though their stunt fails — yet succeeds for america arsenic a portion of guerrilla filmmaking wizardry — it spurs Johnson toward an adjacent crazier notion: clip traveling successful an RV to 2008 to alteration their fates and unafraid their inevitable fame. Think “Back to the Future” and deliberation astir it a lot, since from present connected out, that 1985 classical becomes this movie’s lodestar of structural, comedic and philharmonic reference. (McCarrol’s enjoyably overwrought orchestral people shouts retired to composer Alan Silvestri.)

That the filmmakers could play against themselves utilizing video of the 2008 versions of their characters (when they had the web series) is undeniably clever, if not ever the laughter riot it promises to be. But it besides helps foster the jealousy-driven farce that takes implicit the current-day communicative and is genuinely funny: a rejiggered timeline successful which McCarrol becomes a monolithic popular prima and Johnson gets near behind.

Invariably these wacky scenarios volition beryllium much amusing to longtime fans, for whom a frantic climax akin to the lightning-meets-DeLorean ending of “Back to the Future” volition play similar nostalgia for nostalgia. To the uninitiated, though, adjacent amid dependable laughter and a sneaking interest for this silly relationship to close itself, it whitethorn travel disconnected arsenic overmuch ado astir who knows what.

But Johnson is thing if not a punchy ringmaster of deadpan wit and his grab-bag mindset generates capable goodwill to admit the DIY brashness of it all. I’m 1 of those who had nary hint of this act’s past and I’m reasonably definite I’d look guardant to “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie the Sequel.”