Year One (Theaters)

When I first saw the trailers for this movie, it looked flat out hilarious. In fact, it was one of the summer comedies I was really looking forward to. I like Michael Cera’s humor, and Jack Black, when funny, is a straight up riot. The premise of the film, while similar to other flicks before it, looked to give a unique take on a familiar idea.

Year One stars Michael Cera and Jack Black as two hunter/gatherers who are exiled from their tribe and wind up going off to discover the world.  The film has some solid laughs, but by the end of the movie it unravels into plain silliness with a lot of the humor losing steam by the final act. It is a pretty entertaining movie, but it has difficulty keeping its premise amusing for the duration of the film. From the start of the movie, the cavemanish setting is funny, with the two leads exchanging one liners and jokes. Despite the fact that there is NO historical accuracy to this movie whatsoever, the humor and setting held up resonably well at first. By the time the ending rolls around, neither Black’s nor Cera’s humor is strong enough to keep the movie afloat.

Year One is not a bad flick by any means. It is an entertaining comedy that will definitely have people busting up. The problem is that there isn’t really enough material to keep the laughs consistent up until the film’s conclusion. By the end of the movie everything kind of devolves into a silly farce.  There are people who will find the movie amusing from start to finish, however with the caliber of comedies these days, the film leaves the audience wishing for a bit more than what they are left with. Unless you are a huge fan of Jack Black or Michael Cera, I would recommend waiting for video.  There are better movies out at theaters that are well worth the price of admission.