IHC Movie Reviews: Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie (2012)

Tim and Eric, the duo that has brought us such weirdness as Tom Goes To The Mayor and Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! has officially broken away from television with their first feature film. Known for being more than just a little weird, this film follows the titular characters on a crazy adventure that is sure to make fans happy. Their insanity works well in the small doses on adult swim, but does it translate well to a full hour and a half film?

First off, let me say right away that I’m not a super huge Tim and Eric fan. I’ve seen a few episodes of their shows, and to me its completely hit or miss. There’s episodes that are hilarious, and there’s others that are just confusing and not very funny. I’m not a super huge fan, but I completely don’t hate it. I see the merit in it, and it works well sometimes. So going into this film, which I was gladly able to watch on demand in the comfort of my own home, I really had no expectations. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I know they are really constrained on what they can and can’t do on TV, so I really expected this to be nothing more than a giant, obscene fart joke. And, well, I was partially correct. There’s fart and poop jokes, there’s semi-nudity, there’s gratuitous violence, there’s tons of profanity. It almost literally takes place in the mind of a 12 year old boy.  

I’m not going to go into spoiler territory, and I’ll try not to say to much of the extremely loose plot. But, the first half hour is insanity. Its like they took everything they wanted to do in a film, and shoved it into the first thirty minutes. Once the actual bulk of the film starts though, it flows fairly nice. Of course there’s plenty of the weirdness that Tim and Eric are known for that occasionally goes over the top, but it all pretty much stays coherent. They are completely able to pull off a decent, albeit weird story, and it really doesn’t get lost among the weirdness. And these guys must have pulled in some favors, because the supporting cast is excellent. Will Farrell, John C. Reilly, Zach Galifianakis, Jeff Goldblum, and Will Forte all play characters will varying degrees of weirdness to them. 

It could have been really easy for them to go overboard on this film. Which, there’s already a fair amount of absurdity,  but its still mostly inline with their TV shows. There are a few snarks that are pretty clever, however. They poke fun at celebrities, new age medicine, and a plethora of other subjects, but relatively subtly. There are a few times it gets a little overboard, like smashing the fourth wall, and just generally over stretching certain gags. But they only stretch it long enough to stop being funny, and stop before it reaches the point of just being annoying. As amazing as it is, they were able to make a decent film that doesn’t just feel like fan service, and it they seriously put effort into it. If you don’t say to yourself, “What the hell did I just watch?” after seeing this film, then you’re either incredibly jaded, or one of group that just doesn’t get the humor. 

All in all, if you’re a fan of Tim and Eric, you’ll love it. If you’re a casual watcher like myself, you’ll probably still enjoy it, but not as much. If you’re not a fan, this won’t persuade you to be one, but you might get a few laughs out of it. Its hard to score though. I’d say if you’re even a little amused by Tim and Eric or the kind of humor that permeates Adult Swim, then its totally a 5 out of 5. But if you’re not, you can skip this one entirely and not miss anything. 

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