Year One (2009)

O Masterpiece

O Excellent

O Good

X OK

O Mediocrity

O Avoid

Review by Jason Pyles / June 19, 2009

For many years now, the American cinema has been suffering from a disease I call the genre parody. Cringe-worthy movies like “Meet the Spartans” and “Dance Flick” spoof other films, such as “300” and “Step Up 2: The Streets,” respectively.

Following suit, “Year One” borrows a great deal from “10,000 BC” and “Apocalypto,” but it’s better than the comedies mentioned above, because it’s not so grossly exaggerated — though it is gross.

Michael Cera plays Oh, the smartest member of his caveman tribe, and Jack Black is Zed, the village idiot. Oh is a gatherer and Zed thinks he’s a hunter. When the odd outcasts are banished from their community, they begin to wander (along with the plot), encountering biblical people and places, such as Cain and Abel and Sodom — of Sodom and Gomorrah fame.

And it comes to pass, verily, that these unlikely heroes are given the opportunity to prove their worth to themselves and those who had doubted them.

Pairing Jack Black and Michael Cera together as a comedic duo was a stroke of casting genius. Clashing Black’s overstated overconfidence with Cera’s understated timidity is funnier than a tickle fight at your fourth-grade teacher’s house. In fact, the first 10 minutes of “Year One” feels like the two actors are trading punch lines during a stand-up comedy skit.

“Year One” is not necessarily a family film. Its PG-13 rating includes “crude and sexual content throughout” and some so-called “comic violence” that’s closer to Scorsese than the three stooges. Because of the biblical humor and vaguely philosophical dialogue, some viewers might sense a mean-spirited undertone of contempt for religion.

Even though “Year One” rates above mediocrity, by all means, go to the movies this weekend and consider seeing “The Proposal” instead. And if you’re determined to watch a prehistoric comedy, I’d recommend “Caveman” (1981), starring Ringo Starr and Dennis Quaid. It has one of the best musical sequences in all moviedom.

Directed by Harold Ramis

Jack Black / Michael Cera / Olivia Wilde

Comedy 100 min.

MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for crude and sexual content throughout, brief strong language and comic violence)