Friday, June 19, 2009

Movie review: Year One misses the mark in a big way

By Alex Bentley

The comedy film landscape was inextricably changed the minute Judd Apatow came on the scene. Since The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Apatow's influence has spread to virtually every other comedy, whether through his direct involvement or people who have worked with him making similar-style films. It appears Apatow is now trying to resurrect the career of Harold Ramis, as Apatow's production company is behind Year One, Ramis' first big film since 2002's Analyze That.

Put the emphasis on trying, however. This clunker of a film is a shockingly boring attempt that borrows heavily from Mel Brooks' History of the World, Part I and the Bible episode of The Simpsons. Writer/director Ramis and his co-writers, Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg (both of whom are veterans of the American version of The Office), show a tremendous lack of comedic know-how by people who should know better. Jack Black and Michael Cera are Zed and Oh, two members of a primitive tribe. Soon after the film starts, the two leave the tribe in a convenient excuse for them to make their way through historical and Biblical touchstones like the Roman conquest, Cain and Abel, and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Even Michael Cera appears to be bored to tears.

For no other reason than to show pretty women in skimpy clothes, Zed and Oh's journey coincides with that of Maya (June Diane Raphael) and Eema (Juno Temple), two tribemates who Zed and Oh had crushes on prior to their exit. The guys ostensibly try to save the two girls, who have been captured and put into slavery, but the film spends great amounts of time with the duo doing anything but trying to save them.

Not that you should concern yourself with the plot, as there's virtually none to be had. In fact, the majority of the film feels like it was conceived as SNL-style sketches and then slapped together to try (there's that word again) and make a coherent whole. The film is edited so poorly that scenes start and stop at random, often leaving the audience grasping at the straws of a never-completed joke. Ramis, Stupnitsky, and Eisenberg also use much more scatalogical/low-brow humor than is typical of an Apatow film, a departure that is as puzzling as it is unsuccessful.

At least there are some hot women to gawk at.

One of the big jokes was probably supposed to be that, despite being in the year One, everybody speaks like 21st century beings. Because of the factors above, though, any humor that could be derived from that goes by the wayside. Black (the manic one) and Cera (the shy, bumbling one) don't move one iota from their standard personae, making each of their reactions as predictable as the sun. None of the cameos (Paul Rudd, Ramis, David Cross, Hank Azaria, and Oliver Platt among them) provide any inspiration, which comes as no surprise given the lackluster nature of the rest of the film.

Year One, with all the talent involved, should have been one of the better comedies of the summer. Instead, sandwiched between the runaway success of The Hangover and the sure-to-be hit Brüno, it's looking like the unfunny kid nobody invited to the party.

See more stories in:

• Arts > Movies / Film > Mainstream Movies