Year One (2009)
Average Rating: 3.9/10
Reviews Counted: 167
Fresh: 24 | Rotten: 143
Year One is a poorly executed, slapdash comedy in which the talent both in front of and behind the camera never seem to be on the same page.
Average Rating: 4.3/10
Critic Reviews: 35
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 28
Year One is a poorly executed, slapdash comedy in which the talent both in front of and behind the camera never seem to be on the same page.
liked it
Average Rating: 2.6/5
User Ratings: 319,393
My Rating
Movie Info
Jack Black and Michael Cera headline Harold Ramis' Biblical comedy about a pair of misfit hunter-gatherers who embark on a wild journey through the ancient world after being banished from their primitive village. Zed (Black) and Oh (Cera) may lack in the skills that their chieftain is looking for, but they have plans to make it big. Zed has a gut feeling that God has "chosen" him, and so he leads his buddy on a trip through the unknown countryside in search of bigger and better things, bumping
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Cast
-
Jack Black
Zed -
Michael Cera
Oh -
Oliver Platt
High Priest -
David Cross
Cain -
Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Isaac -
Vinnie Jones
Sargon -
Hank Azaria
Abraham -
Juno Temple
Eema -
Olivia Wilde
Princess Inanna -
June Diane Raphael
Maya -
Xander Berkeley
King -
Gia Carides
Queen -
Horatio Sanz
Enmebaragesi -
David Pasquesi
Prime Minister -
Matthew J. Willig
Marlark -
Harold Ramis
Adam -
Rhoda Griffis
Eve -
Gabriel Sunday
Seth -
Eden Riegel
Lilith -
Kyle Gass
Zaftig The Eunuch -
Bill Hader
Shaman -
Marshall Manesh (II)
Slave Trader -
Rion Hunter
Bedouin Sheik -
Gene Stupnitsky
First Guard -
Lee Eisenberg
Sodom Sentry -
Eric Gipson
Sodom Vendor -
Lacie Manshack
Banana Girl -
Weston Hollenshead
Kid Stoner -
Paul Scheer
Bricklayer -
Matt Besser
Guy in Crowd -
Drue Franklin
Squanto -
Joaquin Townsend
Slave Child -
Bryan Massey
New Guard -
Keet Davis
Desert Soldier -
Tim Hilton
Pedestrian Villager -
Ashley Nicole Caldwell
Gold Statue -
Mark Cotone
Angry Baker -
Jack Walker
Village Child -
Jamal Sims
Dancer -
Sarah Christine Smith
Dancer -
Kelly Connolly
Dancer -
Michael Morris
Dancer -
Leslie Geldbach
Dancer -
Katherine Miller
Dancer -
Paul Rudd
Abel -
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Year One Trailer & Photos
All Critics (168) | Top Critics (35) | Fresh (24) | Rotten (148) | DVD (10)
Creatively it's a giant step backwards, with Jack Black and Michael Cera playing to the kids as inept hunter-gatherers who stumble across various Old Testament characters.
Top Critic'Year One' wants to be seen as a freeform, knockabout trawl through Biblical history, perfect for an undemanding Saturday night. There are only two problems: it's kind of dull and just isn't funny.
For all its unevenness, the film is blessed by its lead actors.
[Year One has] some very funny moments but not enough of them.
This is a significant notch below the great Monty Python films that tackled religion with intelligence and wit.
The people who made Year One seem to think that all you have to do to make a hit comedy is get a bunch of jokesters together. But where are the jokes?
Stretched painfully thin to feature length, it's a concept that's gestated for 34 years but hasn't evolved a microbe. It also proves that the Harold Ramis of '09 has nothing on the Harold Ramis of '75.
Dudley Moore once made a pretty forgettable comedy giving various well-worn bible stories a light irony wash by reacting to them with the skepticism and confusion a person of today might. Year One is basically that, but dumber.
From its ill-concieved concept to its timing-free chemistry and embarrassingly-bad characterisations, Year One is a major misfire in every respect.
a lazy excrescence of a film. Crude, sloppy, flat, and singularly uninspired, its only redeeming virtue is proving that Michael Cera is capable of rising above even this abominable material
Only big fans of Cera and Black need catch this film, and even then, it's far from a must-see.
What's even more depressing than the never-ending stream of sub-sixth-grade toilet humor is the sad fact that Year One is helmed and co-produced by two of the best laughmeisters in the business.
Not everything Judd Apatow touches is gold.
Old Testament meets old jokes in rough, unfunny comedy.
The problem is not the historicity, or lack thereof, in a comedy, but the uneven pace of the humor.
Producer Judd Apatow has gone from comedy gourmand to McDonald-izing in four years. And when in doubt, director Harold Ramis makes Jack Black eat his own feces and Michael Cera pee in his own mouth. Yes, this is at the level of YouTube monkey comedy.
Ramis was so enamored with the town of Sodom that he just couldn't bear to have his subjects leave. And that's where the film bogs down.
This one is destined to take its place alongside films like Evan Almighty and Wholly Moses!.
As underwhelming as its buzz might have indicated...
Black's biggest idiot in the village, overly flirty heathen turned moronic messiah tries to hunt and gather copious hairy bodied babes who really know how to stroke their spears, while a shackled Cera pees upside down through his collar.
Might not be Jack Black's best film, but it's definitely his worst.
Audience Reviews for Year One
Super Reviewer
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- Zed: I told you to fetch me more wine.
-
- Oh: Rub it in with my hand?
- High Priest: No your ball sack, yes your hand!
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- Oh: Im not following, I'v just been leading from the rear.
Discussion Forum
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Latest News on Year One
June 19, 2009:
The Friday Harvest: This Week's Best Pictures, Posters, and VideoHappy Friday Harvest, a weekly round-up of the best pictures, posters, and videos that have become...
June 18, 2009:
Box Office Guru Preview: Proposal and Year One Bring More LaughsFive of the top six films are comedies right now but Hollywood believes that's not enough so two new...
June 18, 2009:
Critics Consensus: Year One Fails To Beget LaughsThis week at the movies, we've got Biblical bloopers (Year One, starring Jack Black and Michael...
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Foreign Titles
- The Year One (FR)
- Año uno (ES)
