Year One

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Year One

Friday, June 19, 2009

Lots of stuff happened in the year one, man. Wait a second, if it's the year one, how is Jack Black like forty years old? Seems to me that everyone should be in some sort of baby phase. At least there weren't any Dinosaurs. Someone told me they lived with humans.

Reviewer
Mason
Categories
Movies

Reviewed by Mason Stillwell

Year One

I wish I could have lived in Year One, especially because I would love to hang out with Jack Black and Michael Cera, and the women back then were hotter (and hairier), but my experience in Year One would probably be nothing like Zed and Oh's, more like Oh and No's. (Hey, that rhymes at least I know I still have a profession in hip-hop). Actually, that was about as clever as half the jokes in Year One. Don't get me wrong; when David Cross is smashing Paul Rudd's head with a rock, I laugh. Even when Jack Black is playing the same character he always plays (no matter what year it is), I still laugh. But Year One is a very selective comedy.

The laughs, in my opinion, outweigh the flaws in this one. Cera and Black both have moments when the humor is really there, and it's usually always there when David Cross is around. Cera and Black stumble upon David Cross and Paul Rudd as Cain and Abel, and I'm sure everyone has seen at least a clip from this hysterical fight. Although, it is much more extended than any part released online. I found that to be one of this movie's biggest flaws. The big one liners were used in almost every commercial and audience wise got no laughter when they came around.

Wait though, let me finish. Not ALL of Year One's laughs come from what you've already seen in the trailers; trust me, you won't see Kyle Gass throw a testicle at Michael Cera on TV, and that is the benefit of seeing this film. Most parts are as unexpected as the next, but can still suffer from moments of pure corny writing. Most of the hilarious parts come from Michael Cera being in a bad situation, which is mostly always funny. Jack Black as well had his own brand of humor to mix into the bunch and at times it works. Of course, some of the biblical references incorporated with the movie are pretty funny as well. Like Abraham sacrificing Isaac, which is how we are introduced to Hank Azaria and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. Sorry for the spoiler but, Plasse mentions smoking "herb" and I thought that was notable. (Did you think I was gonna say he doesn't get sacrificed?) Oops.

Oliver Platt has an alright part. Vinnie Jones to my surprise was extremely more calm than I thought he was going to be. Oh my, and the best might just might be Princess Inanna (sorry, I just drooled a little bit) I had to look up who she was and little to my surprise she is the insanely beautiful girl who has a part on House, from the three episodes I've seen of that show. Sorry, that was kind of irrelevent but seriously, I want her to read this so she can contact me. Hey, Olivia. No, but if you want to talk about funny, hands down it goes to Bill Hader. Bill Hader is a shaman and the only way for you to actually know it's Bill Hader, is by hearing his voice. It is hard to even take him seriously because of this bone that he has through his nose. Stick around after the credits roll for more footage of Shaman Bill and a few other funny scenes.

In the end, Year One was kind of a feel-good type comedy, not really perfect. Capitalizes more on the humor it has rather than trying to be anything really special. Certainly funny, mostly it's the last 30 minutes that really take the pie in unoriginality. Not really a problem, like I said you will probably find more laughs than flaws, but it just lacks that spark that keeps you giggling every two seconds. Cera and Black both hold moments in the movie that will make you want to watch again, along with David Cross, who is in pretty much half of this movie but still, I wouldn't consider this a must-see.

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