There are lots of peculiar things about “Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie.”  Anyone familiar with the duo and their downright outrageous yet surreal sketch comedy show, “Tim & Eric’s Awesome Show. Great Job!” on Adult Swim, definitely expects their trademark weirdness in the form of self-mockery, scatological humor, infomercials, public access TV show parodies and just plain random outbursts and acts of hilarity, I can’t even begin to explain in a 500-word movie review.

Though people familiar with the show, fans and non-fans alike know to expect the peculiar, no one is prepared for the kind of peculiar that characterizes the Tim & Eric movie.

To begin with, “Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie” is such a strange film that it is even unconventional outside of its content and goes beyond the limits of the big screen.  What I mean is, “Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie” is the biggest, most popular film ever to be released On Demand, that is, through cable special order, before its debut in movie theatres.  Not just 12 hours or a day before its cinematic release, but months!

Tim & Eric themselves claim that this move was meant to cater to fans of “Tim & Eric’s Awesome Show” to encourage viewing parties, a common ritual in the dorms and apartments of Tim & Eric fans.

While this is certainly true and effective service to the fans, this move also provides some insight on the state of cinema today.

My take on it is that, if this continues, then there isn’t a place in popular cinema for movies like Tim & Eric’s.  This is because post-“Avatar,” popular cinema has become so obsessed with box office numbers that films with specific demographics or films that do not sport the 3D moniker in their titles simply do not have the mass appeal to amount to huge financial success.

If new demographic-specific movies go to our home televisions instead of the Cineplex, then what is happening at the Cineplex?  Steep ticket prices? Rehashed stories? “The Smurfs Movie”?

For cinema to progress we need diversity, not rehashes, sequels and 3D gimmicks.  I’ll get off my soap box now.

I don’t know how to give an accurate synopsis on a movie like Tim & Eric’s because truthfully the content is so irrelevant it doesn’t matter.  Tim & Eric blow a billion dollars inexplicably entrusted to them by a sinister corporation.  Somehow, they must repay the evil corporation or face dire consequences.

Along the way, they meet numerous crazy personalities portrayed by tons of famous comedic actors, like Will Ferrell and Jeff Goldblum; these characters help them on their journey and hijinks ensue.

I am not sure how to review this movie either.  Personally, I don’t like Tim & Eric’s brand of light entertainment.  I see why it’s comical but not why it’s funny.  That said, there are still plenty of things to laugh at and fans of the show will almost certainly be pleased.

A taste for the weird will get you a long way in this film but there is one particular scene at the peak of the movie that I am not sure any fan of the weird is ready for.

If you have to see it, order it On Demand and host a viewing party.

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Ian Storey/For the Review
Ian Storey can be reached at [email protected].