MovieChat Forums > Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie (2012) Discussion > Could have been better

Could have been better

posted 12 years ago by Chris_MacGuffin
1 reply | jump to latest

Ever since Tom Goes to the Mayor premiered in 2004, Tim and Eric have been a polarizing duo. Their ability to divide was pushed to the tenfold with Awesome Show, Great Job. It's surrealist anti-humor satirical played on public access with a few tabs of acid. Yet it was never the weirdness of the show that was off putting to me. It was the laziness. There's no need for a joke when we can freeze on a stupid look. The line's not funny? Doesn't matter, we'll cast someone who looks funny, then anything they do will be funny. What worked about Tom was it had a structure, they could channel their lo-fi aesthetic into a cohesive and often very funny 11 minutes. People accuse Tim and Eric naysayers of not "getting them" I get them, I just don't think they're particularly funny. Especially when they're desperately trying to mock something that already self-parodies and are doing a lazy job at it.

That being said, they have potential. Like I said, I dig Tom. I think it's the right humor for them. They weren't trying to substitute weirdness for humor, instead they managed to channel both into a series that for all intensive purposes shouldn't have worked, but did. So when I watched Billion Dollar movie, I went in with my reservations for Awesome Show, and my enjoyment of Tom.

What I got was a mixed bag. The first ten minutes are infomercial parodies from the Schlaaang Corporation. "Chef" Goldblum opens up the film to introduce the Schlaaang Ultra Seat. It's a typical Awesome Show style sketch, complete with Bob Odenkirk supplying the voice-over and a typical Tim and Eric extra being awkwardly positioned into a seat that looks like it'd only be comfortable to a masochist. It got a chuckle out of me. So far so good. The next joke, the various Schlaaang companies involved in the "billion dollar movie" just fell a little flat.

Then their movie starts and three minutes later, it ends. They blew their money on diamonds, expensive catering, makeovers, and a personal guru, Jim Joe Kelly who also supplied the source material for their billion dollar fiasco. It all feels, well, lazy. It's a lazy attempt to satirize celebrity culture and one that just falls flat. Oddly, it also feels tame. Couldn't these late night absurdest come up with anything funnier then just: they became spendaholic divas? You relish in the offbeat, give us something more.

As a result, they're deeply in debt and have to fire their beloved personal Guru Jim Joe Kelly. Lemme preference this by saying, I'm a huge Galifianakis fan. It's true, I love the bearded bastard. He's oddly endearing. However, even beloved comedians can phone in roles and I hate to say it, but Jim Joe is phoned in.

That brings me to my next grip with this film, The Schlaaang Corporation. They're just not that funny. They're the typical amoral corporation that peppers lame comedies. Robert Loggia does his best, but honestly, he's not given anything compelling to work with. Couldn't they make him any more interesting then just, a pissed off CEO? He shouts, steams, and at one point, cuts fingers to get what he wants, but it never works. This is BASEketball all over again. A sporadically funny movie with a less then funny antagonist.

Thankfully, they're not put in the forefront and once Tim and Eric flee Hollywood, the film picks up. And by picks up, I mean it finds it's stride, more or less. Desperately in debt (thanks to a legally binding contract that holds both Tim and Eric personally responsible for the money,) they go out on a drug-addled, alcohol fueled binge that accumulates with Heidecker getting his arm sawn off (at a tattoo parlor no less, yes in this world, you can get ink or amputated) and Wareheim getting a prince albert. It also ends with them seeing an commercial for the S'wallow Valley Mall. In which the owner, played by Will Ferrell in a mildly amusing cameo boast, "Run my mall, get a billion dollars."

That inspires the duo to create Dobis PR, a PR firm who's name comes from combing doing and business. It's slightly clever and it works. I'll give that joke to them.

Up until that point, the film is very hit and miss. Satirizing celebrity culture and corporate greed is not Tim and Eric's strong suit.

Once they get to the mall, it's a mixed bag there as well. Certain things work, like Heidecker force-ably adopting a man's son. Wareheim's crush on a 60 year old balloon stand owner. The Dobis PR presentation is something that on it's own can be watched again and again. Others seem like they could have been hilarious, like the feared wolf that stalks the grounds at night, or Toquito. The abused and sickly homeless nephew of Will Ferrell's character who's left behind to show Tim and Eric the ropes. And some that just don't work at all. Shrim and all aspects of it comes to mind.

The problem once again, is laziness. The jokes that work, work cause they seem to be oddly naturalistic to the universe that these guys have created. Those that fall short, fall short because they simply didn't do enough with the material. That or they tried and couldn't come up with anything funnier then what they were given. Well there are some inspired moments, they're bogged down by Tim and Eric's over reliance on awkward casting, bad editing, and this belief that humor is just in the performance and isn't all encompassing. Also, it eventually settles to be pretty predictable climax/showdown with Schlaaang that seems like it was cranked out in a fifteen minute writing session. Tim and Eric defenders will argue that that's the point. That the jokes are actually multifaceted and in a way, the "laziness" of the film is a joke itself. And maybe it is, but it's a joke that falls flat, and at the expense of their feature.

Would I recommend this film? With a huge grain of salt. It is what it is, and I wish it could have been more.

[–] harlowfan 12 years ago

I love the review you've written here. It was a well-written, thoughtful, and enjoyable to read.

I agree with your overall consensus of the movie. There are enough enjoyable elements for me, however, where I can say that I do like it. I like it the same way I like steamed broccoli. Do I crave it? No. Do I need it in my life? Sometimes. The vitamins are just good for me. Similarly, I just know that I will need this movie in my life at certain points in time. Broccoli makes it onto my plate very seldom, but I would be sad if it disappeared from Earth altogether. I feel the same way about B$M. (An entire paragraph dedicated to a broccoli analogy - that's a buttload of win, right there.)

Upon my first viewing at home on iTunes, I didn't dislike it, but I didn't love it either. I would say it was a mild like and a truly enjoyable experience. Despite the story and writing, I just enjoy watching Tim and Eric do their thing onscreen. And while I knew the film would grow on me more over time, I knew there were some things I just would never fully appreciate.

You are right in that some of the writing simply falls short. I agree with your opinion of the film's opening, with the exception of the multiple branches of Schlaang Corp. being involved in the movie. I thought that bit was pretty funny. I also really enjoyed the opening credits. I thought it was a great start to the movie. (They're really giving that Depp impersonator a lot of employment lately!)

I don't think Zach Galifiankis "phoned in" his scene. He only had so much to work with. And of that, who knows how much was edited out?

There is a definite air of lazy writing in certain parts. Some scenes, such as the "soft/hard" scene where Tim turns to the camera and talks, made me think to myself, 'You guys typed this out and thought it was laugh-out-loud funny?' Taquito's long, drawn-out death scene comes to mind as another great example. And that was supposed to be some sort of climax. When I saw it in the theater recently, I don't remember anyone laughing at either of those scenes, really.

I had a good side view one of the theater-goers. His face and body language could probably speak for thousands. By mid-movie, his head was tilted curiously to the side, having buckled under the weight of mild disappointment. He remained focused on the screen, letting out half-hearted chuckles, but it's as if the thrill of watching Tim and Eric had given way to a worry that he may blink and miss something good.

Let's see, what did I like? Anything with Will Forte. I think he was really super funny. He almost stole the show. His voice inflections just crack me up. Eric's date scene with Katie. The restaurant's bread theme and Quall doing stand-up was funny. The hallucination scene was laugh-out-loud funny. "I have too many teeth in my mouth!" John C. Reilly did a really good job as Taquito. He's just naturally really funny. The Dobis PR presentation was good. I agree with Eric's opinion in interviews that the motel room tranformation was a highlight. The Will Ferrell office scene. "Top Gun from the top...again."

Didn't care much for the whole Tim and his son thing. There are some deeper-seated issues there. haha! I heard his Heidecker & Wood album recently, and there's a song on there about his father. Honestly, his attachment to his dad/the way he appears to put him on a pedestal makes me cringe a little. Well, actually, maybe half a notch below that - maybe borderline between a cringe and the face one makes when they smell a fart. And what's weirder about it, is that he appears to have had a normal childhood... he sings about first-world problems on his album such as fans asking for autographs or looking at his face causing him pain (if I remember the lyric correctly) and his dad working long hours. (I think he really believes he has problems.)

Back to the movie, I put it down to something getting lost in translation during the entire process. What may have been hilarious to Tim, Eric, and their crew during writing, editing, rehearsals, filming, etc. just didn't seem to fully translate to the final finished product. That's just my personal feeling.

As far as your take on Awesome Show, I completely disagree. Much humor can be conveyed with a mood or facial expression. It's like a show dedicated to the the type of weird stuff I grew up laughing at (and that nobody else did!). I think Awesome Show humor is completely ground-breaking.