By Robert Scucci
| Published 26 seconds ago
Whether you love or hate Tim Heidecker’s creative choices, you have to give him props for going all in on the bit no matter how absurd. From his long-running collaboration with Eric Wareheim on shows like Tom Goes to the Mayor, Beef House, and Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! to his catastrophic YouTube cooking series Tim’s Kitchen Tips, Heidecker thrives on anti-comedy. That approach is pushed to its most extreme in his intentionally terrible stand-up special An Evening with Tim Heidecker.
2019’s Mister America takes a slightly different approach, leaning fully into mockumentary filmmaking as a fictionalized version of Heidecker decides to run for District Attorney of San Bernardino County. This is despite the fact that he has no legal experience outside of being tried for (mass) murder, and that he is not even a San Bernardino resident. The motivation for this entire stunt is simple. Revenge. That is really all you need to know going into Mister America, because it is just as stupid as it sounds, but it still works as a sharp piece of political satire.
A Platform Propped Up By Petty Vengeance
Tim Heidecker’s entire reason for existing in Mister America is to exact revenge against District Attorney and prosecutor Vincent Rosetti (Don Pecchia). Prior to his decision to run for office, Heidecker was dead to rights after being accused of killing 18 people and hospitalizing dozens more with defective vape pens he distributed at a music festival. After Toni Newman’s (Terri Parks) vote of “not guilty,” the case was thrown out as a mistrial due to a hung jury. Heidecker responds by running against Rosetti and hiring Newman as his campaign manager.
Living out of a hotel that doubles as his campaign headquarters, Heidecker plots his revenge by printing posters calling Rosetti a rat, making appearances at local businesses to gin up publicity, and going door to door to collect enough signatures to get his name on the ballot. When he is not actively engaging in politics, Heidecker spends most of his time puffing on a THC vape pen and drinking what most people would consider to be a reckless amount of alcohol.
Heidecker, who once hosted a movie review show called On Cinema at the Cinema, is publicly outed as a fraud by his former co-host Gregg Turkington (playing himself). Turkington frequently deploys obscure movie references to criticize Heidecker in ways that words alone cannot convey. Heidecker books conference rooms at his hotel to host debates with his opponents, none of whom ever show up. He drunkenly dictates angry emails to Toni, who barely knows how to use a laptop, before passing out in his own filth and forgetting what he was furious about in the first place.
A Unique Confidence In Incompetence
Mister America is not what I would call laugh-out-loud funny, but I was smirking for almost its entire runtime. Tim Heidecker is the only comedian I can think of who can play things completely straight while radiating confidence despite his total lack of competence. This fictionalized version of himself becomes a walking, talking embodiment of the Dunning-Kruger effect. Everyone is laughing behind his back, but he barrels forward with a psychotic level of dedication and drive that only someone like Eric Cartman could convincingly pull off.
Even as Heidecker stumbles into catastrophe at every turn in Mister America, the film still lands on a point that feels uncomfortably relevant. As stupid, inexperienced, and openly aggressive as he is in a campaign that no one initially takes seriously, if he had the right team behind him to clean up his image, he would probably have a legitimate shot at becoming District Attorney. This is true even though he is directly responsible for destroying countless families with his previous business ventures.
As of this writing, you can stream Mister America for free on Tubi.