Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim are a bit of an acquired taste over a variety of television shows. Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! is a staple of the Cartoon Network but is a bit of an oddity. The two have fans who love to show’s interesting level of creativity, and plenty of them happen to be famous and join the show from time to time, but there are a much larger portion who aren’t fans. It’s a show that’s too big to be cult but not big enough to be mainstream; it exists as a sort of oddity for many to enjoy and more to ignore.
And they made a film in a similar vein that few saw in Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie.
The premise is simple. Tim and Eric are given a billion dollars to make a movie and blow it in spectacular fashion. In debt to some bad men, they opt to try and renovate a mall worth about a billion dollars. The problem arises because everything inside is “wacky” and intended to try and be funny. Unfortunately the film isn’t really designed to be all that funny to anyone who isn’t already into the sort of offbeat comedy that Tim and Eric provide won’t be able to access.
It becomes a problem because if you’re not already a fan (and I’m not) then this is going to be a miserable 94 minute experience. This is a valentine to a fan base already established with no one new allowed to join; unless you’re a fan of the two and their work already you aren’t going to enjoy this film in any aspect. It’s a comedy that preaches to the front of the congregation but doesn’t reach for those in the back pews.
Tim & Eric provide a Commentary Track as well as an interview with the two of them. A handful of Trailers are included as well as Deleted and Extended Scenes. HD Net’s look at the piece is included as well.
If you like Tim & Eric the television show this is your film. If you don’t, or never heard of it, odds are you probably won’t.
Magnet presents Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie. Written and Directed by Tim Heidecker & Eric Wareheim. Starring Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim, John C. Reilly, Will Ferrell. Running time: 94 minutes. Rated R. Released on Blu-ray: May 8, 2012. Available at Amazon.com.
