Tim Heidecker plays a fictionalized version of himself, a concert promoter who has recently been acquitted from a trial in which he was accused of inadvertently killing a large portion of the guests at one of his recent events. As a result of his disillusionment with the justice system, he decides to run for District Attorney of the Californian town of San Bernadino, which he is doing for a number of reasons – to improve the conditions of people who are inconvenienced by a justice system he sees as inherently flawed, to realize his own political ambitions, and (more than anything) to render the current district attorney redundant, making this an endeavour inspired by spite aimed at the person who made it so clear that he was intent on putting Tim in jail. Running as a third-party candidate, he has to endure many of the challenges that come with running for office – mostly, he has to actually deal with the fact that very few people know who he is, and those who are aware of him know that he is a controversial figure who is hopelessly incompetent at everything he attempts, and who is only running to satiate some curiosity, rather than actually hoping to improve the situation of the residents of San Bernadino. Nevertheless, he persists – and armed with an oversized tan suit, a bundle of flyers and a tenacity that would make any political figure envious, Tim sets out in the hopes of getting elected.

Mister America joins the canon of great political mockumentaries of the past, such as Bob Roberts and Tanner ’88, in which we focus on a political candidate seeking office during a period of election, following them on the campaign trail as they do their best to persuade the public to put their trust in the titular figure and surrender themselves to what could be a very unpredictable period in office. However, what this film does very differently is perhaps even more impressive – it takes something that would barely survive as an online short and turns it into one of the year’s most unconventionally hilarious comedies, a strange and offbeat series of vignettes strewn together under the common plot, which actually does not need much political knowledge to follow. Ultimately, Mister America isn’t just an offshoot of the many projects done in collaboration between Heidecker and Gregg Turkington, but also an essential work of satire that has unfortunately gone entirely ignored outside of the niche group of individuals who have been following the misadventures of these two comedic oddballs over the years. The film manages to be one of the most potent glimpses into the political process and coming in a year when the United States is bracing for one of the most riveting presidential elections of the past few decades, it’s arrival is certainly timely.

Mister America is not a film that would necessarily appeal to everyone – in fact, it requires some kind of familiarity with the people behind it in order to fully appreciate exactly what the film is going for. Heidecker has made an indelible impression in two spheres of comedy – the more surreal, absurd work he did in collaboration with Eric Wareheim (which would be what newer viewers are most likely going to be aware of), and the cringe-inducing comedy that relies very much on the awkwardness brought on by Heidecker and Turkington, who have seemingly perfected the art of making the audience feel uncomfortable, yet mesmerized. Mister America falls squarely in the confines of the latter, being a film in which the humour is often derived from the most subtle moments, and where the laughs come from the general atmosphere of complete unease that the filmmakers manage to capture so well. Executed with the sincerity of a real documentary, Eric Nortanicola directs the film that allows it to stand on its own terms, despite being a continuation of the intricate On Cinema at the Cinema universe that the creators have meticulously constructed over the past decade. The comedy isn’t always very evident, and it can be mistaken for being an ill-formed attempt at capturing the awkwardness of reality, but for those who embrace this kind of intentionally clumsy, unashamedly ridiculous humour, Mister America is a worthwhile endeavour. Added to that, there’s some poignant political and cultural commentary underlying this film, which has always been a staple of the On Cinema at the Cinema series, albeit not always as clearly as it is here.

A great deal of what makes Mister America relatively successful is Heidecker’s performance – over the course of the decade, he’s created this alternative persona that has been at the forefront of most of his self-produced projects, and has resulted in some truly terrific work done in the realm of alternative comedy, where Heidecker’s comic musings as this version of himself have brought on some tremendously strange, but nonetheless compelling, moments of unhinged absurdity. Mister America is a great primer for those looking to get into the actor’s work because it presents us with a relatively straightforward portrayal of the kinds of characters he normally plays, but without the sometimes cataclysmic absurdity, he normally brings to the roles. Playing it completely straight, taking a cue from the likes of the Christopher Guest ensemble and Leslie Nielsen, who perfected the art of deadpan humour, where the intersections between ludicrous situations and serious performances normally lead to incredibly effective comedy. Turkington has a pivotal supporting role, also playing a fictionalized version of himself, a vehement opponent of Heidecker’s candidacy, and who is fully intent on dismantling his campaign, not aware that he himself is just as incompetent as getting something like that done. It’s easy to just view Mister America as these two absurdity-minded comedians just running rampant, but when we look beneath the silliness of the story, we can see that there’s more depth of what they’re doing – it may not be the epitome of iconoclastic performance, but they effectively convey the bizarre nature of the story, which is definitely not as far-fetched as it would appear.

Whether intentionally or by complete accident, Mister America manages to be one of the most potent representations of the ludicrous nature of contemporary American politics made in recent years. Anyone who has been following this current election cycle will undoubtedly note how this film has many correlations with the absurdity on both sides of the partisan aisle, ridiculing the desperation many have for success, but also the admirable tenacity that many individuals running for office tend to exhibit. The film interestingly doesn’t focus on the idea of a winner – Heidecker’s character suffers innumerable losses throughout the film, thus speaking directly to those marginal candidates who don’t meet the success he does but still put in the effort anyway, taking part in a game they know they’re destined to lose. Mister America is a small, quaint comedy with a lot of merits in terms of its tightly-written premise (which borrows heavily from the more liberal narrative structure that the writers have shown throughout their various projects), and the unrestrained approach to comedy, where the film does an impeccable job of never resorting to explaining the jokes, allowing them to flourish on their own, becoming quite remarkable in how incredibly absurd they can be, which gives this film a lot of charm. It doesn’t always amount to as much as it is aiming for, but its dedication to the most incredibly strange premise more than compensate for the sometimes excruciating awkwardness, which is certainly by design. For better or worse, Mister America is an unforgettable glimpse into another side of politics, one that is far less glamourous and enduring to what we normally see reported – and if anyone had to expose the disconcerting challenges associated with this kind of story, I’m glad it was those behind the making of this film because when it comes to conveying the complete absurdity of life, Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington are the people to do it.