Review of Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie (2012) by Coriden B — 16 Nov 2012

I canâ(TM)t say that I enjoyed Tim and Ericâ(TM)s Billion Dollar Movie - a feeling that I share with many viewers and critics - but I am not certain it was meant to be enjoyed either. The film is nothing if not uncomfortable, inappropriate, vulgar, juvenile and disgusting. In short, Tim ad Ericâ(TM)s Billion Dollar Movie is a too-blunt instrument, a thing engineered more to offend and irritate than to entertain or fascinate. However, considered as a reaction to and criticism of contemporary, commercial pop-culture, the film does seem to operate on a slightly more â" I hesitate to say it â" sophisticated level. Tim and Ericâ(TM)s Billion Dollar Movie is kitsch all the way down; it is thoroughly saturated in (and deeply critical of) the commercial nature of the industry of which it is a part. The film presents commercial media turned inside out â" gutted, so that we might scry its true nature in the mess of entrails before us. Indeed, every aspect of the film â" every plot point, every character, and every setting â" is at once infected by, and performing a deconstruction of modern advertising.

The filmâ(TM)s status as a kind of meta-commercial is forshadowed, of course, by the title â" but also by the string of fictional commercials for the âSCHLAAANGâ? corporation, which supposedly produced the film. In other words, there is no room for innocence here, or for any origin outside of the commercial. This becomes even more apparent once the plot begins to unfold in earnest: two failed actorâ(TM)s have racked up an enormous debt by spending the entire budget of their film on the diamonds that crust Jonny Deppâ(TM)s suit in their upcoming film. What better analogue for the aimless decadence of the Hollywood spectacle. Then, in order to make their money back, they move from one limb of commercial culture â" film â" to another â" a shopping mall. At this point the film drifts into a protracted television commercial for the new Swallow Valley Mall. âOoo,â? says Tim, âyouâ(TM)re gonna like the fake trees,â? and in that moment, something crystallizes. This is perhaps the most concise version of the filmâ(TM)s argument. Advertising doesnâ(TM)t offer us things that we need. Rather, it does everything in its power to manufacture desire â" to make us like the fake trees.

Perhaps, then, we might argue that Tim and Ericâ(TM)s Billion Dollar Movie presents a world in which Jean Baudrillardâ(TM)s apocalyptic dream of the simulacra is absolutely, literally true â" a world where simulations have bludgeoned their way so far into the forefront that, not only do they no longer stand for anything real, they have replaced the real entirely; they have effectively erased it. In other words, you have to like the fake trees if they are the only trees you have and you have to drink Coca-Cola if it is the only beverage being served. The scary thing about this statement â" about the film in general â" is that it is not intended as speculative. This is the world (or the wet dream) of contemporary advertising.