Year One (2009) Reviews

• Enjoyable stupidity!

  drakesh72010-09-20

  I don't understand why some people dismiss this movie as stupid. Isn't that what comedy is usually about. Aristotle himself says that comedy should deal with the "ridiculous". The part where Black's character Zed eats the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge and within seconds feels himself "more intelligenter", is hilarious. He starts ruminating like a philosopher and comes to the conclusion that "everything is just so weeeird". Of course, all this is for comic purpose. So who are more stupid? The makers of the movie who make such scenes in a comedy, which being low brow is not really to be taken seriously, just enjoyed. Or the ones in real life who actually read about such a tree and believe it to be true. It's a comedy. Just enjoy it for laughs.

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• An underrated gem

  Moonspring2010-11-19

  When Year One came out, I missed it in the theater. It didn't seem to last long. People didn't seem to receive it all that well either. Considering I'm not fond of either of the actors in the two main roles, I really wanted to see this film. When I finally got around to watching it, I now understand why it struck a chord with me. Without ever claiming to be a tribute to Mel Brooks, that's exactly what it ended up as. If you liked History of the World Part One you will like Year One as our two cave men progress up through the early years of human civilization and culture, encountering various biblical figures and getting themselves in and out of various tight spots. It was really a fun little film that I think most all fans of Mel Brooks would appreciate. It is as much a nod to JudeoChristian history as it also pans it. It is a nod to Mel Brooks without being a complete copy cat of Mr. Brooks. It is meant to be a romp and not a serious film. People who brushed it off should give it a second chance and not try to over analyze or read to deep into it and just have a little fun. I gave it an 8, which is saying a lot from a person who doesn't like either lead.

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• Oh come on; this is Mel Brooks inspired.....

  intelearts2009-09-06

  This is nowhere as bad as some are making out - it has touches of Python and a lot of Mel Brooks - it is pretty lazy in places with too much adlibbing - at least I hope it was adlibbing... But this is pretty good entertainment - and it's not really about cavemen - it's about the Old Testament set mainly in Sodom - and it is kind of like Life of Brian - though clearly not in the same class. One can understand why marketers don't want problems with an upset congregation, but at the end of the day this works pretty well as both broad comedy and a gentle satire. Considering that I was expecting a total donkey with a side order of turkey this was pretty much a fun film - and no where near as bad as I'd heard. Can be watched without loss of brain cells...

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• Exactly what it should have been, yet cruelly underrated.

  raidersfan8582009-06-21

  When I first saw the in theater preview for this movie, I was extremely excited. I went home and got onto Facebook and became a fan of the movie, which provided me with updates containing every video pertaining to Year One that was out there. I saw all of these videos and laughed hysterically, but I began to get a feeling that the movie would consist of what was in the previews and be nothing more than around 15 minutes of funny dragged out over a 90 minute period of time. I was wrong. When the movie started, I began to become even more worried I would hate it because within the first 20 minutes of the movie, at least 3/4 of the things seen in the previews were already said. I figured it was going to drag on from there. To my great relief, it did not at all. The entire hour and a half of the movie was constant laughing. The way Black and Cera got themselves into so much trouble and managed to get out of it every time was perfect. The ridiculous yet hilarious references to The Bible and how things that exist today were created were perfect. The movie was exactly what it was supposed to be: a laugh out loud comedy that was only meant to entertain. I am still baffled as to why people keep bashing this movie. Comments like "Worst Movie of the Decade" anger me... What were people expecting with this movie? A heart warming story with a compelling plot and serious action? It is like everybody is sizing this movie up to expectations that it doesn't need to be sized up to. This movie was a great movie if all you want to do is go in and laugh. If you are looking for some deeper moral and other things that don't belong in a movie like Year One, you should go and see something else.

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• Is the vast majority dead wrong?

  jalmanzo2009-06-19

  Firstly, let me mention that this is my first IMDb post ever and I feel compelled to make this post based on many different things. I went into this movie with no prior knowledge other than a trailer of the movie where michael cera gets berries knocked out of his hands etc. The scene made me laugh and I thought that Jack Black and Cera could be a good pairing for a comedy. I did not know that the movie was directed by Harold Ramis nor that the script was written by Ramis as well as the guys from The Office (all three of whom are comedy geniuses), nor did I know that the movie had been panned by Roger Ebert: the only movie critic whom i actually respect in that we have very similar taste in movies. If I had read the Ebert review (1 star), I probably wouldn't have gone to see the movie but nonetheless I did. There are two kinds of comedy: comedy with a moral to the story and mindless comedy for the sole purpose of making people laugh. This is the latter but it is done to perfection. I'm not going to talk about the movie itself other than to say that the scenes with Oliver Platt and Cera had me laughing as hard as the first half hour of Borat (i.e. I could barely breathe). I'm not claiming that this movie is a classic, in fact I'll admit that there was no real point to the movie and the philosophical bits fell pretty flat but all in all there were many scenes in this movie where Ramis' genius is apparent. I went to the movie to get some laughs and I definitely got my moneys worth. For a quick example of some other comedies which had me leaving a large amount of pee for theatre personnel to mop up later: A Fish Called Wanda,...The Holy Grail, Office Space, Borat, Austin Powers, Happy Gilmore. OK I didn't see most of these in the theatre but you get the point. I can't really say why so many people are panning Year One. My only thought is that they really just don't get the humor. Obviously there is a plentiful supply of people on IMDb that will not like this notion since they couldn't possibly be wrong about anything but in my opinion they are mistaken when it comes to this movie. I have a feeling that people's opinions of this movie will change in time. Is it possible that a pointless cave man comedy could be before its time? I hope this post will get a few more people to watch this movie with an open mind.

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