Review of Year One (2009) by Patrick E — 26 Jul 2010

Hollywood produces an inordinate number of terrible comedy films every year but most are made on a small budget and at least break even but occasionally they decide to produce a big budget comedy film which, perhaps not surprisingly, usually turns out to be terrible. Year One, starring Jack Black and Michael Cera, is one of these big budget flops that never came close to regaining its budget and having seen the film it's not even slightly surprising.

Year One tells the story of two prehistoric men, one a hunter and one a gatherer, who are banished from their tribe. Having decided to form their own tribe, they encounter a number of biblical figures, get themselves into various troubles and eventually must save the tribe they were originally banished from. It really is a terribly written comedy film with very few laughs and one which relies far too much on Jack Black's energetic form of "acting". The story is poor and it's clear that almost the entire budget was spent on set and costume design rather than coming up with comedic situations for the viewer to laugh at. Admittedly the sets all look great but this is irrelevant when we have to endure Jack Black prancing around for 90 minutes and Michael Cera playing the same shy character he always does. There are plenty of unfunny cameos which adds to the complete waste of talent on show here. Amazingly this was written and directed by Harold Ramis, who wrote Ghostbusters among others, yet still manages to be a complete stinker.

Year One is a big budget comedy flop that offers a few minor chuckles and countless cringe worthy moments. You are definitely better off avoiding this one.