ADULT SWIM NEWS BLOG: Tim and Eric Billion Dollar Movie review!

Since the rise of mall culture late last century, plenty of low-budget movies have "set up shop" in shopping centres, taking advantage of their vast open spaces and shooting cheaply on weekends and nights away from the crowds. It's not hard to think of a few examples from the past like "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", "Mallrats" and "Dawn of the Dead" but there has been a recent resurgence in the genre with entries like "Observe and Report", "Bad Santa" and... "Dawn of the Dead". We'll come back to that later. Tim and Eric have set their sights on their first big screen adventure, I think a lot of the excitement lies around how they might pull it off - having previously established themselves as the masters of the short sketch with a fondness for random fast cutting. They haven't ever been long-form narrative guys. They cut their teeth with a few longish pieces for shows like "Funny or Die Presents" and now, with a swag of celebrity supporters, fan-favourite amateur contributors and their unique comedy sensibilities all the pieces are present. There is, of-course, another performer more popular for short form videos and a trademark sense of humour who managed to cross over and make a movie that became a cult favourite for the ages...

In 1989 Wierd Al Yankovic released "UHF", the story of a guy who is put in charge of his own low budget television station (side note - starring a pre-Seinfeld Michael Richards). Known primarily as "the parody guy", and having done only parody music videos and a mockumentary, Al came up with a mixture of simple storytelling, peppered with a few sketches and coated with a layer of general wackiness for his movie. This is the same basic structure of Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie - it's obvious that Tim and Eric are familiar with "UHF" and considered it a mould from which they could cast their own project. That's not to say this is covering old ground or ripping anyone off, B$M is something altogether unique, identifiably Tim and Eric balancing the expectations of loyal fans and potential newcomers. And so it is upon the foundation of mall movie and wacky sketch movies that we can approach B$M, which opens with a shot of Johnny Depp walking down a street in Paris wearing a Diamond Jacket - yeah, expectations blown. Having squandered a Billion dollar budget on a three minute feature for the Schlaaang Corporation (who have more production logos than I've seen since "The Room", of which the duo are also self-confessed fans), Tim and Eric are now on the run with no money and running out of options. That's when a chance discovery at a urinal conveniently promises them Billions of dollars ("it's easy, not hard - and the best part is it's easy") for running the Swallow Valley Mall. They reinvent themselves in a scene that's equal parts make-over and make-out as DOBIS PR and head to Swallow Valley to meet the owner Damien Weebs (Will Farrell) who bequeaths them the Mall and the promise of big money.

Swallow Valley is host to a slew of unusual characters like Taquito (John C Reilly) who lives in the mall and will probably die soon. With Taquito as their guide Tim and Eric circle the mall and meet Alan Bishopman (Will Forte), the sword salesman opposed to that mall's rejuvenation because he gets paid not to sell swords, Reggie the second-hand toilet paper salesman and his son to whom Tim takes a shine, and Kate Hill the Celebrity Balloon vender for whom Eric lusts. On their trail are the Schlaaang executives (Robert Loggia and William Atherton, the bad guys from Lost Highway and Ghostbusters respectively) who kidnap Tim and Eric's mothers hoping to discover their whereabouts. Further to this, a?potentially haunted yoghurt shop, a renegade wolf and the growing realisation that there might not be a Billion dollars to be made in the mall strain the working relationship of the new owners. When Eric and Kate finally go on their inevitable romantic outing, Tim sabotages the evening and steals Kate for himself. Eric having been shit on (wink), confronts Tim and the ensuing conflict jeopardises their partnership and the success of the mall's reopening, which is fast approaching.
Plot wise the movie is satisfying, and effort is made to include necessary story telling devices in a tongue in cheek manner. The sketches either riff on the movie-going experience or explain the less-subtle plot points. A few key scenes are sure to generate chatter, these moments could have been sketches in their own right, but were obviously embedded from conception as narrative moments - such as the intimate bed scene early in the film and Eric's treament at the Shrim wellness centre, lead by Dr. Doone Struts (the fabulous Ray Wise). Factor in contributions by Jeff Goldbloom, Zach Galifianakis, Michael Gross, David Leibehart, James Quall, Ron Stark, and so on... you get the idea. If you're a fan it's going to be a great ride. If you're not, don't be put off - this is really worth a look with if you've dismissed Tim and Eric because you like them but the Awesome Show, Great Job! wasn't your jam you should check this out on demand or in theatres when it launches in March.

Source: http://adultswimnewsblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/tim-and-eric-billion-dollar-movie.html

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