By Robert Scucci
| Published
Tim Heidecker and Eric Warheim deserve all the respect in the world for being so fearlessly prolific with their comedy, and personally, I think they’ve cracked the code. By releasing so much content into the wild and constantly gearing up to work on their next project, Heidecker and Warheim are able to celebrate their victories and continue to take wildly ambitious creative risks when they hit it out of the park. However, creative risks like Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie are just that … risks.
And in the case of this movie, the risk doesn’t really pay off, even when you really, really want it to. I’m not saying that Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie doesn’t have some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments, but as their feature directorial debut it’s an absolute mess that tells me they need to refine their approach to moviemaking in the future because it plays out like it’s stuck in a sketch comedy format that doesn’t necessarily lend itself to longer works.
We Bought A Mall!
Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie has a simple enough premise, but quickly devolves into a mess of interconnected stories with some of the most repulsive characters you’ll ever witness. Playing fictionalized versions of themselves, Tim and Eric are shown previewing Bonjour, Diamond Jim, a movie they produced after being given a billion-dollar production budget by the executives of the Schlaaang Corporation. Having spent a substantial amount of the budget on mistakenly paying a Johnny Depp impersonator (Ronnie Rodriguez) to star in the film, extensive plastic surgery makeovers so they could look more “Hollywood,” and blowing the rest on frivolous expenses like the $500,000-a-week salary for their personal shopper and spiritual guru, Jim Joe Kelly (Zach Galifianakis), Tim and Eric are only able to produce a three-minute feature, which incenses Schlaaang executives.
Now personally responsible for paying back the loan, Tim and Eric need to come up with a billion dollars, and fast. After seeing a commercial produced by Damien Weebs (Will Ferrell), the owner of the S’Wallow Valley Mall, Tim and Eric have reason to believe that they’ll be paid the exact amount of money they need to get out of their sticky situation– even though Weebs can’t help but compulsively wink whenever he says he’ll pay them a billion dollars to take over his failed shopping center in Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie.
An Awkward Comedy Goldmine, But …
Deciding that they’re now businessmen, Tim and Eric watch Top Gun in its entirety (twice) with Damien Weebs before signing the contract that states they’ll soon be very rich men in Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie. This is the extent of their negotiation and sales pitch, by the way.
Quickly becoming entangled in a love triangle with Katie (Twink Caplan), and losing sight of the many renovations they need to make, Tim and Eric work with the sickly Taquito (John C. Reilly) in their efforts to reopen the mall and start raking in the dough. As fun as this main story may sound in Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, it quickly pivots into an odyssey of gross-out comedy that will make your stomach churn in the worst way possible.
From Eric’s spiritual healing at the Shrim Alternative Healing Center that involves lying in a bathtub full of human excrement to Tim’s Spanish fly switcheroo that leads to one of the most disturbing love-making sequences you’ll see in your life, Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie loses the plot because these sequences aren’t necessary to move the story forward, and don’t quite land as effectively as the awkward humor that Tim and Eric are known and celebrated for. I’m not saying there isn’t a time and place for over-the-top toilet humor, but it feels out of place in this movie.
And this is coming from somebody who frequently spins Tim Heidecker’s Urinal St. Station, an entire Southern rock album devoted to the joys of drinking hot piss with unthinkably high production values and top-notch musicianship to drive the point home.
Streaming Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie
If you’re a fan of the many unhinged intellectual properties that Tim Heidecker and Eric Warheim have their names attached to, you may consider Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie to be a worthwhile watch. At the end of the day, this title is very much a Tim and Eric outing, and there’s no way to escape their subversive sense of humor, even if they occasionally miss the mark. You’ll find all the usual trappings you’re familiar with, like the excessive use of low-budget filming methods that resemble those poorly produced commercials on public public access television that you unwillingly watch while in a state of sleep paralysis– wondering if what you’re seeing is actually real, or a figment of your warped, slumber-induced imagination.
Unfortunately, these sequences are better left utilized in short-form comedy because it’s an absolute assault on the senses in every conceivable way in this context.
While certainly not the duo’s finest hour, Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie is worth muscling through if you’re already a fan of their work. But if this is your first time getting into their warped world of surreal comedy, I’d suggest sitting this one out and watching Tom Goes to the Mayor instead.
As of this writing, you can stream Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie for free on Tubi.
