In an alternate timeline, Green Day broke up after the release of Warning, which sold fewer copies than Nimrod, which sold fewer copies than Insomniac, which sold fewer copies than Dookie. Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tré Cool never recorded American Idiot, let alone 21st Century Breakdown or the upcoming Revolution Radio, and they went on their separate ways. That’s, more or less, the plot of Ordinary World, Lee Kirk’s comedy-drama about what happens when a punk-rocker turns 40. This particular punk-rocker is played by Armstrong, who, when he’s not covered in eye makeup, looks like if Jeff Tweedy and Sam Rockwell had a baby with Adam Scott’s smirk.
Ordinary World, which was originally called Geezer (you just know Weezer is saving that title for a future album), follows Perry, “a happily married father of two living a comfortable but sedate life in the suburbs,” according to the plot description. “On the occasion of his 40th birthday, he seeks to revisit his former life as the lead singer in a popular punk band, though his middle-aged reality quickly clashes with the indulgences of his youth.” Judy Greer, Chris Messina, and Fred Armisen round out the impressive cast, but the main draw is obviously Armstrong, who’s done a bit of acting before (including American Idiot on Broadway) but never in the lead role. The film’s still Green Day adjacent, though: “Ordinary World” is the closing track on Revolution Radio.
We should all be thankful “Longview” wasn’t also turned into a movie. It would be rated X for “excessive pathetic masturbation.”
