The Funniest Movie of the Year?

A full confession before I continue with this piece: I knew very little about the dynamic dumbos behind this film before I used my free movie pass to see “Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie” (that extra “n” still bothers me…and maybe that’s the point?) I went to Cinema du Parc over a month ago without knowing much about this one, except for the fact that it was a Canadian film (very Canadian), based on a popular web series (The Show), and had some sort of nostalgia for the early 2000s in Southern Ontario. I understood and waited in the new lounge to see this one with a few other fans, some of whom seemed to know more about it than I did, and it was odd to hear Matt Johnson (director and actor) and Jay McCarrol referred to in such sacred tones. The last time I had gone in to see a film knowing very little on what it was based on was “Veronica Mars”. I felt a little lost when fans around me started cheering for the faces on screen that meant nothing to me. There was no such reaction on my part when I watched this one. In fact, I felt like I was watching some old friends getting their work off the ground as they entertained us with a story based on nostalgia, time travel (a serious wink to “Back to the Future” here), and some “Jackass”-like behaviour involving the CN Tower and plenty of cable. And I thought that it was the funniest movie I saw in a long time, or would see this year. Take a bow, gentlemen.

The story is thus: two buddies (Matt and Jay) begin to realize that their lives have not taken the turns and twists they expected after missing out on a key show at Toronto’s Rivoli Theatre (most famous as a launch pad for The Kids in the Hall, another Canadian comedy team-up). How do you fix what seems to be permanently broken? You engage in something called a “Seventh Inning Skydive”. For those of you who do not know this interesting fact: the CN Tower (now fifty years old) was once the world’s tallest building, offering visitors the opportunity to walk around the edge on a harnessed rope in a jumpsuit if you feel lucky. These gentlemen do feel lucky, and engage in a stunt involving a hidden pair of pliers and a pair of parachutes that I am still hoping was done with some very creative CGI programming. And it isn’t even the best part of the film, despite its summoning of my hidden vertigo.

How far away is 2008? I did not think that such a short jump in time would bring me back to a world that was so different, but the team finds their old RV, an extra-rare bottle of Orbitz (take a sip) and a power surge that transforms that vehicle into a time machine (see, “Back to the Future” is still teaching us lessons). This is the best part of the film because, as you watch it, you begin to wonder how they got all of this on film. Going back in time means they interact with their old selves in some of the best editing and non-CGI-enhanced work ever put on film, and then, like in so many situations where people are given a second chance, plans change. Matt wants to go back to the Rivoli for their show; Jay has…other plans. And it works. Mr. McCarrol becomes a big pop star, via the web and through a very Drake-like transformation (the rapper’s home is featured) until things go very…awry (no spoilers here, but you can just imagine what could happen to a pop with no restraints and no real friends – Matt gets ignored and desperate).

Do they make it back to their future? Will you ever look at the CN Tower the same way again after watching this film? Did so many of the encounters with non-professionals on the streets of Toronto really take place without a script? Just sit back and enjoy it. Johnson and McCarrol are too charming and too talented for me not to suspend my doubts.

Best comedy of the year, folks…

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From “Running Man Press” interview (February 10, 2026):

Johnson: “Everything we take out, we don’t take it out because we don’t like it. We take it out because the movie works, even without it. And a great lesson, I’m not sure if you’re a filmmaker at all, is that if – it works for any piece of art – if the thing still is intelligible to an audience with something removed from it, take that out. Take out anything that the audience doesn’t absolutely 100% need to get through the movie.”

McCarrol: “It takes a real discipline that we’ve been getting better at, because you really have to make a big sacrifice. You really need to prioritize what it is that you’re doing. You’re making the movie. Time matters. How clear it’s being really matters over how funny it is, which is crazy, but there are some of the funniest things that we’ve ever done that don’t exist in the movie because it didn’t help make the clear narrative sing.”

Well said, gentlemen.

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