088: Year One (2009)

Title: Year One (2009)
Starring: Jack Black, Michael Cera, David Cross
Directed By: Harold Ramis

Similar to my feelings about Ridley Scott's Robin Hood, I couldn't help but expect something better with the names attached to this project. Harold Ramis is a hilarious writer and director responsible for some of the funniest comedies ever to hit the screen (Animal House, Caddyshack, both Ghostbusters, Vacation, Back to School, Groundhog Day). Jack Black is a serviceable star, better suited for supporting roles but still funny in his own right. Michael Cera plays meek and timid in a way that no one else really can, and usually scores a laugh or two in the process. David Cross is blunt and scathing with his stand-up and can usually put some of that attitude on the screen, resulting is some genuine laughs. With all of them working together and a pretty solid supporting cast (including Oliver Platt, Paul Rudd, Hank Azaria, Vinnie Jones, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Horatio Sanz, Olivia Wilde and Bill Hader), I am pretty sad to say that this movie just couldn't deliver the funny at all.

Year One basically just suffers from a case of trying too hard. It's written by Ramis alongside Gene Stupnitsky & Lee Eisenberg, a writing team whose most prolific work is a number of episodes for the American version of The Office. Perhaps they're best suited for adapting someone else's work or for pre-existing characters, because their attempt at an original story here is abysmal. Every single gag goes for the broad and easy laugh, and they usually fail miserably. The basic plot is that of two jungle tribe neanderthals venturing out into the world and witnessing a number of stories from the bible. When playing such material for laughs, it's probably best to point out what's funny about the story rather than add a few dirty words or playing it straight and having our protagonists laugh at it anyway to tell the audience it's supposed to be funny. It starts to feel like one of the recent Movie parodies (Scary Movie, Epic Movie, Superhero Movie, etc.), in that it's more of an over-the-top parody of the bible than it is a comedic epic with these characters dropped in for a laugh. And in all honesty, just like the Movie movies, it's all painfully boring and unfunny.

I wish they would have taken advantage of the people at their disposal. Ramis is better than this, and so is most of the cast. Many of them have written funnier material than this. Perhaps a little more collaboration could have improved this movie, or maybe the overall premise just isn't funny enough and that could have been re-worked. I'm not sure what could have been done, if anything, to make this better. But I am sure that this final product isn't really worth your hour and a half. Skip it.

Score: 3.5/10