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SYNOPSIS:
History was made... by these guys?
Zed (Jack Black) and Oh (Michael Cera) are
cavemen who stumble out of the mountains into an epic journey of biblical proportions. One's a bumbling hunter, the other's a gentle gatherer; together, they become unlikely participants in history's most pivotal moments. Directed and co-written by comedy legend Harold Ramis (Groundhog Day, Caddyshack, Analyze This), YEAR ONE is rude, crude, wildly absurd, deliciously tasteless and laugh-out-loud funny!
MOVIE
REVIEW:
On paper, "Year One" sounds like godsend comedy. Helmed by Harold Ramis who did comedy classics liked Ghost Busters, Groundhog Day with seasoned comedians Jack Black, Michael Cera in the leading roles and a supporting cast consisting of David Cross, Oliver Platt, Hank Azaria, Paul Rudd and produced by Judd Apatow, what could possibly go wrong?
In fact, everything that could go wrong went wrong in this one. Black and Cera play Zed and Oh, two hunter-gatherers who are banished from their primitive tribe for eating the forbidden fruit. Zed and Oh has no other choice but to set off on a perilous journey in search of a place of their own, encounter biblical characters liked Abraham, Cain and Abel along the way and stumble upon a place called Sodom where their ex-fellow villagers are now enslaved.
Like a true buddy adventure comedy, Black and Cera plays off interestingly well with one another. Black as usual plays a self-importance, loud-mouthed character while the young Canadian, Cera for the umpteen times plays a mumbling sweet character, only this time both are drabbed in cavemen outfits. The problem obviously doesn't lie with any of the actors but the filmsy script that fails to address any funny satirical biblical spoof or witty remarks to really latch your attention.
It's an obvious disappointment when you can take apart "Year One", spilt them into various short sketches, watched them and I guarantee you still won't miss a bit. It's almost too painful to watch something that's populated with poop, pee jokes and jokes that go nowhere that lurked at every corner. Is it chuckling to see an upside-down Oh peeing down his face or Oh rubbing of the high priest's (Oliver Platt) hairy chest? The filmmakers seem to think so. Consider the credits list Ramis, Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg (from The Office) as writers, we expecting something more than a mere lousy punchlines and lame gags to fill up the 96 minutes running time.
I could have told you more about the lavish costumes, set designs and on-location shooting in New Mexico and many more but I guess this is not the sort of stuff you are looking for especially in a Harold Ramis/Judd Apatow comedy. You know you are in serious trouble when you keep having Abraham (Hank Azaria) going around talking about circumcision.
In the summer slate of 2009, two comedies unexpectedly bombed. First being Will Ferrell's "Land of the Lost" followed by "Year One" which tells us that the audience really deserved a good comedic fix from the filmmakers than some half-heartened attempts at making laughs.
The unrated edition contains an additional 3 minutes of gross gags which doesn't add up much anyway.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
Commentary with director Harold Ramis, Jack Black, and Michael Cera - A far more entertaining feature that the movie itself. Ramis handles the technical details of filmmaking while Black and Cera provide the laughs. Definitely one of those better commentary tracks in the market.
There are 2 Deleted Scenes and 10 Extended/Alternate Scenes that goes on and on. None of them particularly funny which explains why it's on the cutting floor.
Line-O-Rama - As per any Apatow production, this 5 minutes feature shows mainly Black, Cross and Platt having a wild time improvising their lines.
Alternate Ending: Sodom Destruction - It's strange why Ramis opted for the feel-good version instead of this absurd ending which involves as much explosions as a Michael Bay movie.
YEAR ONE: The Journey Begins Making of Featurette - This 17 minutes feature runs like the usual making-of piece which has the cast and crew talk about the various aspects of making the movie.
Gag Reel - Making a comedy is hard work and keeping a straight face is even harder. You get to experience them right here.
Sodom's Got 'em! is a funny mock commercial while Leeroy Jenkins: The Gates of Sodom is another cranky shot. Both running around 2 minutes each.
The Code 3 DVD is rounded with Trailers from the movie and various Sony titles.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The visual of this DVD is almost perfect with excellent color reproduction and free of visible defects unfortunately there's nothing much in the audio department to showcase as it's primarily a dialogue based movie.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Linus Tee
Posted on 11 January 2010
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