Year One [Blu-ray] [Import]

This is now my favorite movie. I think Black and Cera did a great job together. Their characters played off each other very well. The supporting roles were awesome as well. I think it's fun watching all the biblical spoofs(for lack of a better word). The comedy was right up my ally and I've watched this about 20+ times. I actually just bought this copy because my old one was getting a bit too scratched up :P

Year One is intentionally stupid, as opposed to accidentally stupid. To some, that won't matter -- stupid is stupid. I however like some movies that are intentionally stupid, and I like almost everything that the Apatow Factory has produced thus far. Year One is one of the weaker films from these fellows, yet still miles ahead of the other comedy films from the competition due to its stellar supporting cast.

Jack Black is Zed, a hunter (the worst in the tribe) and Michael Cera is Oh, a gatherer. For those who wonder if they are any good in this movie, my answer is, "Jack Black plays Jack Black, and Michael Cera plays Michael Cera". Indeed, while both actors are talented, neither stretch out at all, and play familiar characters. That's still enough for fans of these two.

Zed causes problems when he eats the apple from the Tree of Knowledge, as forbidden by God. The apple has a "knowledgey" taste, but doesn't seem to bring Zed any smarts. He leaves the tribe to start his own tribe, the "Muscle Tribe, of Danger and Excellence". Oh joins him, and before too long we're encountering Cain and Abel (David Cross and Paul Rudd) in the midst of an argument. It seems God has favoured Abel's sacrifice over Cain's, and that causes a little strife. It's not quite the way you remember it playing out in Sunday School.

Somehow jumping ahead a few centuries, Zed and Oh soon find that their old tribe has been captured and sold into slavery. They encounter Abraham (Hank Azaria) about to sacrifice Isaac (Christopher Mintz-Plasse aka McLovin) and learn about the city of Sodom. It is about to be destroyed by God, but not before Zed and Oh rescue their former tribesmen and women! It is there that they meet more characters, such as Oliver Platt's high priest. Best of all is Jack Black's Tenacious D bandmate, Kyle Gass, as a eunuch.

The movie is pretty weak on story, it is basically an excuse for Black and Cera to wander through history and encounter Biblical figures. All the characters speak in modern language, which is a pretty funny premise to me: What would two stone-age cavemen say, if they had today's English to say it in?

3 stars is perhaps a bit generous to some, but I'll watch it again. Gag reel and deleted scenes on the DVD are great.

I've never written a negative review before, but this movie needs to come with a warning label. A really BIG warning label. I watched the theatrical version, thankfully not the unrated version. I shudder to think what was in the unrated version. As for the theatrical take, it was horribly crude and vulgar, completely distasteful, not funny at all, many scenes ended without showing resolution - for example, Cera's character is being choked by a snake in one scene, then, they just cut to later in the day without showing how he got away from the snake. I was so surprised because the television previews made the movie look so funny, and the cast was good. I'm just not sure what to say. The characters travel through early Biblical events and end up in Sodom (and let's just say "Sodom" lives up to it's name, *shudder again at crudeness*). I don't understand how anyone could have read this script and actually wanted to make this movie. I'm usually good at filtering through things I don't like in a movie to just enjoy the good things, but there wasn't anything good. Such a waste of my time and money. The only reason I put one star is because Amazon wouldn't let me leave it empty.