Review of Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie (2012) by Garrett R — 18 Mar 2012

TIM AND ERIC'S BILLION DOLLAR MOVIE is a absolutely ridiculous, purposefully outlandish and biting comedy that satirizes (often in a crude and graphic fashion) phony advertising, movie execs, mall consumerism, and utilizes a mock-seriousness that is very reminiscent of Sacha Baren Cohen's brand of comedy while also staying uniquely true to Tim and Eric's brand of strangely enjoyable Adult Swim 11-minute slot comedy.

Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim directed, co-wrote and star as themselves in their cinematic debut, executively produced by Mark Cuban (yes, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks [who also produced 2008's SPLINTER]), Will Ferrell, and Funny or Die Productions. Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Will Forte, John C. Reilly, and even Jeff Goldblum appear in small but key roles in Tim and Eric's silver screen debut. More of an extended TV sketch with a cinematic presentation than an actual film, BILLION DOLLAR MOVIE tells a decent story that would span 10 of the show's episodes (10-11 minutes on average) and a cast that is as mock-serious as they are purposefully ordinary-appearing. Some are just that, some are closeted maniacs (a few of the storekeepers in Swallow Valley Mall, to be exact).

Speaking of the Swallow Valley Mall, that's the location to where Tim and Eric run away from the movie execs who are out for their blood after the duo blew a billion dollars on a three-minute short (instead of a full-length film) because of "production costs". Robert Loggia plays the head honcho movie exec of Schlaaang Corporation who can get quite nasty and foul-mouthed when he is driven to.

Tim and Eric ran away from Los Angeles to the Swallow Valley Mall in the Midwest to earn back the promised billion dollar earnings from the mall's owner, Damien Weebs (Ferrell). Upon their arrival at the mall, its appearance outside and inside is haggard and run-down. After a brief meeting and role-trade with Weebs, Tim and Eric get down to business to run the mall...and renew it while seeing to interacting with the mall's shopkeepers in the most absurd and profane ways imaginable.

The humor and the script are undeniably creative in TIM AND ERIC'S BILLION DOLLAR MOVIE. With combining their trademark phony-ironic circa-1990 infomercial spoofery and knack for creating aloof characters, Tim and Eric as writers/directors know how to craft a funny situation from the ground up...and push the situation usually to its extreme, un-PC limit. In fact, the entire movie is a big fat joke (in a good way) directed towards the target audience (of the show) and definitely the uninitiated audience who see and don't know how to react to Tim and Eric's brand of humor.

The joke is that movies are an absurd form of entertainment, as us audience members are so used to suspending our disbelief that we take in the movie seriously. Not that that's a bad thing (by all means it's a great thing) but TIM AND ERIC'S BILLION DOLLAR MOVIE aims to shatter that realm of disbelief while audiences watch the film. This film's joke reaches its viewer not through subtle cinematic thematic cues, but through direct-camera asides and the non-stop barrage of language and inside jokes.

All in all, TIM AND ERIC'S BILLION DOLLAR MOVIE will ultimately appeal strictly to fans of Tim and Eric's Adult Swim TV show, and to open-minded moviegoers who can take very crude, biting, even disgusting comedic material with an undeniable knack for comic exaggeration.