Year One

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Allow me to preface this review by talking a little bit about the late Harold Ramis; the director and writer of this film, alongside Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg. Ramis left a bit of a legacy of hit or miss films, but they were mostly hits when it came to his comedy. He's probably best known for directing 'Caddyshack' and 'Groundhog Day'; two pretty legendary comedies. And speaking from my perspective, the man really help give us the 'Ghostbusters' we grew up with.

Sadly, however, before Ramis passed away, 'Year One' was his last film as a writer, director and actor. He went on to work on some episodes of 'The Office' ('A Benihana Christmas', 'Safety Training', 'Beach Games', and 'The Delivery: Part 2', for those who are curious), but that's about it. With that said, I really wanted to try to find some good in this film, as I've heard it's pretty much a giant, biblical mess.

A hunter named Zed (Jack Black) and a gatherer named Oh (Michael Cera) one day decide to explore the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Zed eats the forbidden fruit, and is banished by the village shaman (Bill Hader) and a muscle-bound bully of a hunter named Marlak (Matthew Willig). Zed makes it tn times worse by accidentally setting the village on fire, which destroys homes, and forces Oh to reluctantly join him on his journey of discovery. Along the way, they meet a selection of biblical figures like Adam (Harold Ramis), Eve (Rhoda Griffis), Cain (David Cross), Abel (Paul Rudd), Abraham (Hank Azaria) and Isaac (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) to name a few.

They learn that their romantic interests (or girls they want to lay with), Maya (June Diane Raphael) and Eema (Juno Temple) are to be sold into slavery, and soon find themselves stuck as slaves in Sodom, and the whole thing kinda goes from there, delivering laughs not-a-plenty. It's not without a few decent jokes, but so much of the humor here is either reaching for low-hanging fruit or plain and simple toilet humor. For the love of God, there's a scene put in for laughs that literally involved Michael Cera peeing on himself while hanging upside down. That's just one example though, the list goes on. As far as the good jokes go, they are very few and far between, and I even have to admit that it was stuff I may have laughed at while others wouldn't.

As far as the leads go, I'm one of those people who really doesn't mind Jack Black or Michael Cera. Jack Black has always been a dude I'd love to get a beer with, while Michael Cera has this dry, awkward humor with which I can't help but be reminded of my high school days - he just plays a great geek. The problem is, they are both so typecast as those respective types, despite the fact that they can hold their own when it comes to acting, though it's petty well B-list stuff. That's one of the film's greatest weaknesses - it's Jack Black being Jack Black, and Michael Cera being Michael Cera, they're just dressed in cavemen garb this time.

Speaking of which, isn't it kinda weird to have a biblical movie coincide with a caveman movie, considering we're talking about Genesis colliding with evolution? I mean, they even mention that they're cavemen - they use the word. I'm also no expert on the Bible (like, not even close) but I'm pretty sure some of these stories collide with each other. And why is it "Year One" when Cain and Abel are grown men? Shouldn't year one basically just be Adam and Eve? Again, no expert, but the timelines seemed incredibly off here. I know it's just supposed to be a silly comedy about biblical stuff, but 'Life of Brian' is leagues above this. This didn't even feel that edgy for the subject matter, at least not to me. It was pretty bland, and again, the toilet humor denies it major points.

So while it may not be the worst thing I've ever seen, and I do thing that perhaps people have been a little too hard on it for what it is, it's still quite bad. I'd never recommend it to anyone, really, unless the 'Movie 43' vibe of a stacked cast gone wrong interests you. Even beyond the aforementioned names, we also get Olivia Wilde as Princess Inanna, Xander Berkeley as the King, and even Kyle Gas shows up to throw a testicle at the pair during a stoning (indeed, his testicle). It's interesting enough for a single watch-through, and enjoy in an ironic way, but it's nothing to return to either. Personally, I'll be remembering Harold Ramis for his work on 'Ghostbusters' instead.

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