A Review of the Movie Year One

Yesterday my wife and I were out at the mall and we decided to see a movie. The only thing available in our time frame was "Year One." It didn't look that great but Jack Black has done good stuff and bad stuff; at the top of the good was "School of Rock" and "King Kong."

"Year One" is a comedy starring Jack Black and Michael Cera. This is classic juvenile humor complete with fart gags and tricks with excrement. If you have a son in junior high school they will probably find this movie funny. For the rest of humanity there were random chuckles followed long periods of thinking how dumb the whole thing is.

The movie creates a mixture between a cave man story and the Old Testament. The whole thing is so silly that it would be hard for devout believers to be offended. It was like a bad version of a Mel Brooks history.

Jack Black and Michael Cera are two cavemen that get thrown out of their tribe for stupidity. They wander the land and run into Cain and witness him kill Able. David Cross has the best performance in the movie playing the conniving Cain who fast talks his way and slips his way from killing Able to being a soldier in Sodom. Next they come up on Abraham, played by Hank Azaria, about to kill his son. Abraham considers their appearance to be a sign from God and he spares his son. They enjoy their time in Abraham's camp until Abraham announces that its time to be circumcised; that was the signal for a quick departure.

They end up in the city of Sodom and, after a painful series of bad heterosexual and homosexual gags, the guys end up being the heroes.

Two notable actors played small and rather awful parts in this movie. Hank Azaria played Abraham. I have seen him play silly roles before and do it well; his role in "The Bird Cage" was great, he also did a good job with the silly role in the second "Night at the Museum" movie. This time it was more the part than the performance. I am hoping to see Hank Azaria in more serious roles; he has the talent.

Oliver Platt has been one of my favorite actors for a long time. I am always impressed with an actor that takes on a variety of roles. This time the role of the High Priest hit knew heights of goofiness. He seemed to be the designated disgusting character in the movie. I just think the role was beneath him.

If you're not a junior high school kid, I wouldn't waste money on this movie. If you are, your mom will probably be mad if you wasted her money on this movie. I am afraid I have to say that this movie isn't even worth a rental.