Year One (2009)

Released June 18, 2009

Jack Black plays the impetuous and unfunny Zed opposite Michael Cera’s more amusing Oh in Harold Ramis’ new prehistoric comedy. From One Million Years B.C. to Caveman to 10,000 B.C., our distant past has fuelled many an awful movie and Year One is no exception; at least Caveman scored points for being utterly absurd.

Essentially a road movie, we find Zed and Oh ostracised from their tribe for having devoured the forbidden fruit. Propelled by Zed’s belief that he is the chosen one, they lurch from one skit to another as they journey through undiscovered lands. They cross paths with biblical alumni such as Cain, who murders Abel before joining them, and Abraham, who wishes to circumcise their penises. They ultimately arrive in a city, “Sodom”, which looks like a mishmash of costumes, sets and time periods pillaged from second rate Hollywood epics. There they must save two women from their tribe who are now slaves, and who they have previously attempted to seduce through such dubious methods as hitting them over the head with a large stick.

The plot of course is just an excuse for gags that cover the usual terrain of sex and bodily functions. Despite a few laugh-out-loud moments already spoiled in the trailer, most of the jokes fall flat and the audience at the screening were oddly silent. The funniest material comes from Michael Cera who plays more or less the same character here as in Superbad and Juno. He has the bemused irony of someone always nervous and out of his depth which is kind of charming. But the laughs are too patchy, and even Oliver Platt, who hams it up as the flamboyant and overly hairy High Priest, can’t keep it afloat through the protracted finale.

2/5