Year One
Directed by: Harold Ramis
Written by: Harold Ramis, Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg
Starring: Jack Black, Michael Cera, David Cross, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Hank Azaria, Vinnie Jones, June Diane Raphael, Juno Temple, Paul Rudd, Olivia Wilde

Some 25 years ago, Harold Ramis was one of the top comedy writer/actor/directors working in Hollywood. From his start on SCTV to his involvement in such classic films as Animal House, Caddyshack, and Stripes, to what would arguably be the high point of his career, Ghostbusters, he had a hand in some of the most memorable comedies of all time. He kept directing throughout the ’90s and into the 2000s, but the quality of his output dropped off until, somewhere along the way, he managed to hook up with the Judd Apatow crew. After scoring a small role in Knocked Up, he went on to direct a handful of episodes of The Office, and it seemed like he had re-assumed his rightful place among the current comedy greats.

Year One should have been Ramis’s shot at big screen redemption. After collaborating on a script with The Office writers Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, he recruited Jack Black and Michael Cera for a goofy comedy about biblical times. The trailer for the movie, however, hinted that this was a thinly-veiled opportunity to dress up some funny people in funny costumes, and set them loose to do their thing. To me this sounded like it was destined to be a critical failure, but possibly still hilarious given the right frame of mind. Sadly, the former statement appears to have been proven true, while the latter has not.

Taking place in the year 1 A.D., our story follows two hunter-gatherers named Zed and Oh (Jack Black and Michael Cera) who are ousted from their tribe and set off in search of their destiny. Before long they meet up with a number of characters from the Old Testament, including Cain and Abel, Abraham and his son Isaac, and of course, the Romans, who have taken two women from their tribe as slaves. They must infiltrate the Roman ranks in order to free them, while also attempting to find out whether Zed really is “The Chosen One”.

It is unclear whether or not the script for Year One was actually more than a few pages long. One of the current trends in comedy, particularly among those associated with Judd Apatow or Will Ferrell, is to allow plenty of healthy improvisation among the cast. In theory, this works wonders, particularly when you’ve got a group of actors who know each other very well. In Year One, however, it just never really clicks, mainly because Jack Black and Michael Cera don’t seem to have much chemistry with each other. You’d think that Michael Cera would be perfect subtle counterpoint to Jack Black’s loud and boisterous personality, but Cera seems unable to do much with his typical deadpan stuttering, while Black himself is hit and miss.

I can’t really criticize either of them for going about their usual routines, especially since that was actually the main draw for me. Perhaps part of what held them back is the ridiculous backdrop for this movie, which takes away anything they are familiar with in the modern world and places them in a completely alien environment. They can’t really draw on any cultural references, and on top of it all, they’re wearing these terrible Flintstones-esque outfits that automatically make them look foolish for the majority of the film. But maybe I’m just making excuses for them. Much of the movie plays like a painful Monty Python sketch, riffing on the kind of language used in The Bible (ie. a lot of “thee” and “thy”), which is just not funny at all.

It could also be that Harold Ramis plays it too loose, leaving Black and Cera far more space than they can possibly fill in alone. Too many scenes unfold without a single laugh or punchline as the movie digs itself deeper and deeper into a hole. The supporting cast is not much help either, with David Cross’s Cain being the most prominent character aside from Zed and Oh, followed by Oliver Platt who plays a creepy, effeminate High Priest. I kind of wished Christopher Mintz-Plasse could have tagged along for a longer period of time, because it felt like Black and Cera needed a third character to complete the dynamic. Then again, maybe too much of McLovin would have been just as bad.

To be fair, I didn’t think the movie was a complete write-off, and in fact, I probably laughed more than a lot of other people in my theatre. I was reminded of Land of the Lost, another recent comedy that people seemed to want to hate right out of the gate, which may have had some unfair expectations placed on it. Granted, Year One is not billed as being a family adventure film, but it is very much a low budget, high concept movie that almost makes fun of itself for being so stripped down. The problem is that the performances just can’t carry the film. A lot of the best moments were already spoiled in the trailer, and the unexpected laughs are far and few between.

If you are hoping for some clever, high-brow humour poking fun at life in ancient times or some religious witticisms, you will be sorely disappointed with Year One; the majority of the film is quite the opposite actually. It is filled with potty and gross-out humour (tasting poo, drinking pee… you know, all the good stuff), which is something I’m not always against, but it is also something that Harold Ramis shouldn’t need to rely on. I can’t say the movie is entirely devoid of intelligence, but it’s pretty damn close.

I suppose it is possible that Year One will go on to become a cult classic a few years down the line, but as of today, there are much funnier movies out there to spend your money on. Although it pains me to say it, I am now convinced that Harold Ramis’s best years are behind him. It’s time to officially start worrying about Ghostbusters 3, which is also being written by the same team of Ramis, Stupnitsky and Eisenberg. — Sean

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Recommended If You Like: Idiocracy, Land of the Lost, Meet the Spartans