Eric Wareheim and Tim Heidecker (Magnet Releasing)

If you’ve seen Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! on Adult Swim already, then I don’t have to tell you too much about the movie version, other than that it’s about as uncensored as it can get. Brace for the following: copious diarrhea induced by rotten meat consumption, strap-on action, gratuitous ultra-violence, and what looks like a marlin-hook Prince Albert (necessary spoiler). The midnight Sundance premiere was a hive of superfans. Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim riled the crowd, throwing T-shirts to the lucky ones, and talking back at the audacious questions. (“How’d the two of you get in shape for the film?” Tim’s playful response: “Oh, f$#k you!”) The comic duo’s popularity puts Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie at cult classic status—expect most screenings to have a Rocky Horror Picture Show atmosphere—and the fan base is already mobilized. I just pray that somewhere some unsuspecting first-date couples wander in and have their asses handed to them.

“Are you shitting your pants right now?” asked a fan next to me just before the house lights went down. Though I am likewise a fan, I was not, but there certainly was a lot to shit about. Guest appearances by Jeff Goldblum as Chef Goldblum (just one of a series of amazing characters names), Will Ferrell, and longtime T & E collaborator Zach Galifianakis (who is not outstanding but still gives some good moments) add some comedy star power. Robert Loggia, Twin Peaks’ Ray Wise, Saturday Night Live’s Will Forte, and the always magnificent and committed John C. Reilly hold a convoluted, barely decipherable plot together. Obviously it’s not really about the plot. It’s a feature length’s worth of outrageous sketches of one-upmanship (their stated goal is to make each other laugh) that kills in 15-minute episodes, and even when it falters here, it’ll at least give you a minute to breath.

Not excluded are a ridiculous cast of non-actors and off-the-wall folk that largely populate the TV series. Tim and Eric have the common touch, and it comes out in their casting. They’ll throw your average bus stop crazies in the middle of the most complex of comic sketch, and through the magic of flubbed and/or misunderstood lines, and a little tricky editing, the result is usually nothing short of marvelous. The naturalism. The humanity! I am not being facetious when I tell you it’s Shakespearean in its attention to the details of character. Favorites include Johnny Depp and Steven Spielberg look-alikes. See this at least for these two hilarious and off-putting scenes.

But like I said, you probably aren’t walking into this cold. But if you are, just know that it’s not an in-joke. It’s supposed to be weird. Also a note of clarification for those reading Sundance dispatches and still confused. The Comedy, a film by director Rick Alverson which also premiered at Sundance this January, is an in-joke, and despite being a commentary on hipsters, is a hipster film itself, starring LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy and both Heidecker and Wareheim. They are two very different films, and for my money, I’d stick to what works and see Billion Dollar Movie over the former.

Basically, this was hilarious at times, and when it wasn’t hilarious, you knew it was going to be again at any moment. The gross-out humor was a little gross, but who expected any less? When even the Sundance indie scene eventually feels a little stuffy or dramatic, I’m thankful for the zaniness that this one brings, and if it weeds out a few audience members, all the better. Only the strong survive.