Year One

As underwhelming as its buzz might have indicated, Year One has been infused with a pervasively scattershot sensibility that grows more and more problematic as the movie unfolds – with the overt absence of laughs ultimately rendering the affable atmosphere moot. The movie – which follows a pair of cavemen (Jack Black’s Zed and Michael Cera’s Oh) as they encounter a series of Biblical figures after they’re kicked out of their tribe – admittedly boasts an amiable opening half hour that benefits substantially from the palpable chemistry between Black and Cera, as it’s initially difficult not to get a minor kick out of the actors’ unabashedly irreverent work. And while both Black and Cera are essentially playing variations on their long-since-established onscreen personas – ie Black is brash and overconfident while Cera is timid and sarcastic – the novelty of viewing their antics within the context of a Biblical satire is enough to carry the plotless proceedings for far longer than one might’ve anticipated. There does reach a point, however, at which the pronounced lack of substance simply becomes impossible to overlook, with the lamentable emphasis on hopelessly puerile bits of comedy – ie Oh is forced to rub oil all over the unreasonably hairy chest of Oliver Platt’s High Priest – ensuring that the movie runs out of steam long before it reaches its aggressively frenetic finale.

*1/2 out of ****