'Year One' review
Unfortunately, consistent laughs weren't discovered until year two
Posted June 5, 2009
Metromix
After being banished from their village, Zed (Jack Black) and Oh (Michael Cera)—early humans with poor hunter-gatherer skills but a surprisingly developed grasp of irony—wander around in hopes of reuniting with their unrequited loves. Their escapades involve run-ins with Cain and Abel (David Cross, Paul Rudd), Abraham and Isaac (Hank Azaria, Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and a High Priest (Oliver Platt) who just wants a little oil rubbed on his extremely hairy chest. Hey, who doesn't?
The buzz: The summer of 2009 is still waiting for a great comedy ("Up" is funny, but humor isn't its biggest achievement). At the very least, with co-writer/director Harold Ramis ("Analyze This") and a couple "Office" writers at the helm "Year One" shouldn't wheeze like "Land of the Lost." Probably.
The verdict: Forget straddling the fence between laughs and groans, "Year One" is impaled by the fence—ping-ponging between clever, dialogue-driven bits and awful physical comedy. (Black eats feces. Enough said.) Points for the playful attitude towards history—Zed salutes Oh's ingenious idea to drink water out of a gourd, not his hands—are then docked by the childish fringe characters. (Why does Azaria voice Abraham like a pirate?) Black once again does nothing to tweak his manic tendencies, and Cera does his same ol' thing, but he's not yesterday's news yet. Hilarious movies have liftoff; "Year One" feels like a holding pattern.
Did you know? As a snake wraps itself around Oh's neck, Zed suggests Oh eat the snake before the snake eats him. Brilliant!
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