YEAR ONE – Movie Review

So what do you get when you put Michael Cera and Jack Black in a Harold Ramis movie Produced by Judd Apatow that takes place in Sodom and Gomorrah? You get a pretty funny movie about 2 caveman that affect many key biblical events, that is a lot funnier then what they taught you in Sunday school.

Jack Black plays an underachieving caveman who is struggling to find his purpose amongst the tribe as well as trying to impress the beautiful Maya (June Diane Raphael). His best friend is a “gatherer” named Oh played by Michael Cera. Oh is desperately in love with Zed’s sister Eema (Juno Temple). Zed and Oh find themselves in a situation where they need to leave their tribe and they find themselves embarking on a hilarious adventure through many historic biblical events. here is the synopsis from IMDB
In year 1, Zed (Jack Black) and his friend, Oh (Michael Cera), are two inept cavemen just trying to survive. Zed is a lazy hunter with no skills, and Oh is a gatherer of nuts and berries. Zed is banished from the village after he eats the forbidden fruit. Oh decides to go with Zed on his epic journey to the end of the earth. Instead, they both find a new world outside of their prehistoric village. They soon find themselves wandering in Biblical times in Bible country. They met Cain and Abraham tending to their herd, and for the first time in their lives they get to ride at a high rate of speed in Abrahams one cow cart. Zed and Oh meet many people in their travels, and along the way, they are sold into slavery and end up in Sodom.

Since this is part of the “Apatow Film Family” you can expect may stars from previous films to appear. Particularly Bill Hader as the tribe shaman,David Cross as Cain and of course Paul Rudd as Abel. Other stars in the film are Hank Azaria as Abraham and Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Abe’s son Isaac. Xander Berkley as the King of Sodom, Oliver Platt as the high priest, and of course the ever beautiful Olivia Wilde as the princess.

The movie all in all was good. But not great. There were a lot of very funny moments but a bit too much involved sex jokes.I guess that’s to be expected when most of the story takes place in Sodom. But there are some other great moments as well, like a chariot race to moves at the insanely high speed of 2 mph. That’s enough to give anyone motion sickness. Michael Cera was definitely the funniest in the movie but of course Jack Black gives 100% as always.
I have to admit its by no means the funniest movie of the year but its good for a few laughs. Not really something you need to see in theaters but not really a waste of money either. I grade it at a solid B. If you see it let us know what you think.
Comments(4)
For me this movie seeing this movie would be like a vegatarian snaking of chicken frys, as a devout christian i stay away from things like this.
This movie looks shitty
I saw this over the weekend and it was boring and it really wasn't a funny movie. I kind of figured it was going to suck since Jack Black is in it but the trailers had me bought when I saw Michael Cera, he's a funny kid, just not in this crappy movie.
I saw it last night and found it very funny! Cera was hilarious- a natural. Hank Azaria never fails to impress and David Cross as Cain was hysterical. I was forced to go to Sunday school as a kid and this movie poked fun at the things I had trouble accepting . For example, Abraham being asked to kill his own son. The excahange between Jack Black and Abraham (Azaria) was gold! I am not an atheist or a szcriligious person. Jesus wasn't made fun of, nor was God directly-just certain parts of the old testament and we should be able to laugh at these things! Also, Jack Balck's character pokes fun at philosophy and questioning and the meaning of life. This movie is well worth watching