Film Reviews

Year One

• Rating:
• Director: Harold Ramis
• Starring: Jack Black
• Details: US /97mins (15A)

Having gotten the Judd Apatow stamp of approval, and coming from the director of the classic Groundhog Day, there's a lot here apart from the deft comic actors on show to cause you excitement. Sadly, Year One is probably the worst film to come out of the Apatow camp; rivalling Drillbit Taylor for sheer lack of laughs. That's not to say that this is completely awful, it does raise a few chuckles, it just lacks the material to really pressurise your bladder into submission. It could be that our expectations are too high now with Apatow-approved comedies - or it's we just demand a certain level of laughter for our ten quid. Either way, Year One is a misstep, albeit a slight one.
Story sees two primitive sorts (Black and Cera) banished from their tribe, after one of them feasts on an apple from the forbidden tree. They embark on an adventure, to first just meander about, and then rescue the two broads they had unrequited affections for in their old village. Along the way, they bump into a variety of comedic heavyweights, to varying degrees of success; including the illustrious likes of Paul Rudd, Bill Hader, and eh, Vinnie Jones. It basically plays like a sketch show, with a sinking feeling that, if enough jokes are thrown out there, some of them will ultimately have to stick. A good comic pairing certainly helps proceedings, but they're really only as good as what they're handed, and that's overtly silly situations coupled with a revolving door of slight scene partners.
A lot of money has obviously gone into this production, and when that happens with comedy, the quality of the material can sometimes suffer - last year's Evan Almighty is a prime example of this. At the centre of the film are Cera and Black; playing friends convincingly despite the age gap, Cera is much more amusing than his corpulent counterpart. Black can often be funny, but he's trying far too hard here, while Cera, hardly stretching himself, still manages to amuse with his incessant mumbling of punchlines. His delivery of the most basic line is often funny, which is a good thing as there's a lot of those on display.
There is a certain danger of over analysing comedy, something that no one should ever really do - especially one with this silly a premise. But Year One just isn't consistently funny enough to warrant a watch ahead of far superior efforts currently hogging screens in your local multiplex. Director Ramis has to take a lot of the blame here. He's co-written the film, and his comic timing doesn't appear to be what it once was. Carry On The Cavemen with a talented core, is still a Carry On film...

Review by Mike Sheridan