Oh! You're Gonna Like The Fake Trees: Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie (2012)

Leave it to Jeff Goldblum to show up in back to back films on my blog, all be it in this film he is playing a parodied version of himself called Chef Goldblum, which if this joke is not enough to give it away, the film in question is none other than Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar movie.  Existing in a world fueled by what has to be some lethal combination of weed, Four Loko and Adderall, one cannot take this absurdist comedy at its face value.  This film runs the  on what constitutes laughable content, displaying everything from banal toilet humor to high brow metacomedy, breaking the fourth wall at times to explain the jokes.  This film was clearly off putting to people and imaginably so because there is some admittedly grotesque stuff throughout, almost always relating to bowel movements or desecration of human orifices, yet what I found more surprising were peoples condemnations of the comedic duos decision to create a coherent narrative for their film, something any non-fan of Tim and Eric's Awesome Show, Great Job would find ridiculous because their film is definitively lacking in logic.  I, on the other hand, do not find the film to be perfect, nor even close to idea, however, I cannot deny it as being one of the better post-modern comedies I have seen to date, as well as offering a fresh consideration on comedy and the nature of audience accessibility.  Furthermore, I have heard interviews with Tim Heidecker in which he admits to a comedic method that always emphasizes finding the limits of audience thresholds, something which clearly succeeds within this film.  I found myself laughing at the most absurd moments, often at the lingering quality of joke delivery or the repetition of a joke in its fourth or fifth manifestation, Time and Eric seem to adhere to a philosophy that if the joke does not work the second or third time, it will surely work the sixth.  It would be awful under the execution of any other comedic setting, yet knowing the particular methods of the actors in question it all seems so right and proves watchable, with the exception of one or two bawdy jokes.

Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie begins with a film within a film, in which their artistic masterpiece Diamond Jim has just been lambasted by studio executives who are enraged by what they see to be a complete waste of a billion dollars.  The Hollywoodified Tim (Tim Heidecker ) and Eric (Eric Wareheim) are initially dismissive of the producers anger and only realize their lack of money and act solidified by their firing of Jim Joe Kelley (Zach Galifianakis).  Yet, after a night of drunken foolishness and semi-sober enlightenment the two see opportunity in revitalizing the S'Wallow Valley Mall, an idea  witnessed while the duo are relieving themselves in a urinal.  After literally running to the mall in question they meet up with the current owner Damien Weebs (Will Ferrell) who after a double viewing of Top Gun agrees to place the mall in their hands, along with the assistance of the sickly Taquito (John C. Reily).  Their existence at the mall is not initially welcomed, least of all by sword shop owner Allen Bishopman (Will Forte).  Despite trebulations and trepidations, the duo find success bringing the mall back to life, all the while Tim finds an adoptive son, literally stealing a boy from his father, while Eric seduces a female employee of the mall.  All is not without climax between the business partners and the two double cross one another in the name of saving the mall, an act that leads to a fist fight and near immediate act of forgiveness.  Yet, the two cannot forget that they are also tied debts from their previous film, which leads to a shoot/slash out in the parking lot of their mall, one in which the duo is victorious.  The film then ends, revealing that it was yet another film within a film.  The larger work proving successful, at least to their friends who appear magically within the screening.

This has most of the tropes and tricks of the television series, whether it be the jibberish dialogue, the Everything is Terrible style editing tricks or the complete disregard for political correctness, yet, much to my surprise, Time and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie does appear to have a identifiable social commentary.  The setting of the film is no accident, this loss of malls and community sustainability is a very problematic thing occurring within The United States.  Many anti-capitalists lament the presence of malls as money machines, oppressing those within them, which is quite true considering the standpoint of the consumer, yet so many of these places are major employers in communities and their loss means a heavy damage to a local economy.  While mostly used for dramatic effect, the desolate nature of the mall as well as its surrounding land manages to reemphasize the destructive wake of a failed mall upon a community.  Furthermore, while the film, ultimately, mocks possession of wealth, particularly in the duo's owning of a billion dollars worth of diamond, yet incapable of comprehending their use in getting the mobsters off their back.  However, the little vignettes of the distraught employees throughout the film are not accidental depicting people struggling to survive in a retail business that needs purchasing power to thrive, a time so grim and disparate that it drives one man to literally give up his son in the name of job security.  The tough economic times of the past year come shining through in this film and manage to reconsider another section of society overlooked by film spaces, probably because they are so inherently comedic in a desperate kind of way, of course making a perfect target for Tim and Eric style comedy.  Hell even if none of the social statements were intentional, it still serves as a great piece of escapism.

Key Scene:  The initial DOBIS explanation tape pretty much assures that their is no turning back from absurdity of the film and while latently awful manages to be hilariously post-modern.

Rent, Rent, Rent.  It is on Netflix, but wait till the wee hours to watch it, the film is textbook Midnight Madness.

She Used Her Super-Intellect On Me. She's Like Hannibal Lecter: Saving Silverman (2001)

Many comedies stand the test of time for their timelessness or their cult like following, others are simply a signifier of a change in the way comedy films would be for the next few years.  Tragically, Saving Silverman is neither of those, it is simply a run of the mill comedy from the early 2000's that relies to heavily on toilet humor and gay jokes for its plot and fills narrative gaps with moments of absurdity so illogical that endearing does little to describe its situation.  Saving Silverman falls between the perfectly crafted college humor of American Pie and the witty quotable dialogue of Judd Apatow films, yet neither of these comedic forms appear in Saving Silverman, the film starts with promise and quickly and irreversibly falls apart.  In fact, if it were not for Dennis Dugan making Happy Gilmore I would completely dismiss his directorial abilities, because not only is this film uninspiring, he has Jack and Jill credited to his name, a flop of a film if ever one existed.

As noted the film starts off with promise, we are introduced to three lifetime friends the loyal Wayne (Steve Zahn) who has taken up profession as a exterminator, J.D. (Jack Black) a heavy set loudmouth who is constantly out of work and Darren Silverman (Jason Biggs) a loveable loser who has trouble finding respectable relationships in which he is not completely belittled.  The trio, along with being childhood friends, also share a passion for Neil Diamond and spend their free time in a cover band called Diamonds In The Rough.  All appears fine, if simple, in the friends lives, until Darren meets a girl named Judith (Amanda Peet).  Judith is stone cold and shows little concern for Darren, until she realizes she can use him as fodder to dodge the approaches of other.  This using of Darren quickly grows out of control and the film cuts to Darren and Judith six weeks later with Darren pathetically in love with Judith and her indifferent to his feelings.  Furthermore, J.D. and Wayne have lost their constant contact with Darren and Judith makes it a goal of hers to separate her boyfriend from his immature friends.  Confused and enraged J.D. and Wayne set out to breakup the couple and reunite Darren with his high school sweetheart  Sandy (Amanda Detmer), who is only days away from taking her vows at a nunnery.  Wayne and J.D. become so desperate to gain their friend back that they kidnap Judith and lock her in their garage.  The film then falls into absurdity as the Darren reunites with Sandy, Wayne and Judith become intimate and J.D. realizes his own suppressed homosexuality.  In the end, in a rather sloppy manner, all is resolved and the crew even meets Neil Diamond, who, undoubtedly phoned in his role as himself.  The film closes with the credits, which involves a group singing of Neil Diamond's Rain, which is arguably the best part of this film.

As I noted earlier, this film relies almost entirely on baudy jokes and raunchy imagery for its humor, which is problematic in its repetition.  I have come to realize in the past years of film viewing that a truly hilarious film combines multiple facets of humor that includes, but is not limited to puns, slapstick, post-modern humor, political jokes, cultural humor and even a dash of toilet humor.  I remember reviewing The Naked Gun last year and discussing its excellent use of slapstick, but I also realize now as I write this review that The Naked Gun also mastered other forms of humor as well.  It is a tragic sign as a writer, director and even actor when you have to debase a film to crude jokes for an hour and a half simply because the narrative is lacking.  In the rare occasions that a film is completely crude, like American Pie, it does so with such fervor and ridiculousness that it becomes a cult hit; again Saving Silverman fails to do this and simply uses gay jokes and nakedness as a means to an end.  With that said, I have no critical statement on this film and in fact find it almost entirely void of social relevance, except as an example of how not to do comedy.

So, I am sure it is apparent at this point that you should not bother to watch this film, unless you really care for comedy movies and even then I strongly discourage viewing this work.