Cera barely redeems 'Year One'

[Comment Below]

By Jonathan Specht

I'm a big fan of Judd Apatow's films, especially "Superbad" and "Pineapple Express." While not written or directed by Apatow, "Year One" was produced by Apatow Productions. So, while not expecting much, I went into "Year One" at least expecting some good laughs. I was sorely disappointed.

The film centers around the travails of a hunter-gatherer, Zed (Jack Black), who eats the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. After eating the forbidden fruit, Zed is kicked out of his village, and, accompanied by his young friend Oh (Michael Cera), goes on various adventures in a mainly Biblical setting. In the spirit of full disclosure, let me just say that I've never liked Jack Black. I simply don't find him all that funny. Like a typical Jack Black character, Zed is loud, stupid and un-amusing. He contributes little to the film.

I am, however, a big fan of Michael Cera. In "Year One," Cera plays Oh, who is basically an ancient version of the Paulie/Evan/Nick character Cera played in "Juno," "Superbad" and "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist." Oh, a long-haired gatherer, is an awkward and sweet, yet somewhat prickly guy. Cera shines as usual, but is constricted by the dumb script.

"Year One" diverges somewhat from the proven Apatow formula of crude sexual jokes plus bromantic tenderness. While there's a bit of camaraderie between Zed and Oh, it doesn't rise to the level of that between Seth and Evan in "Superbad" or Dale and Saul in "Pineapple Express," perhaps because of their age difference.

Are there funny jokes in "Year One"? Certainly. I laughed particularly hard at one involving Abraham and Isaac, and another that suggested Barack Obama. Another joke I especially appreciated was a self-deprecating reference to Judd Apatow's reputation for misogyny: in the tribe of hunter-gatherers, a man gets a girl into bed by dancing with her and then whacking her over the head with a stick.

Unfortunately, while acknowledging its reputation with this joke, Apatow Productions does nothing to change it with 'Year One." The film's female characters are just as uninspired and one-dimensional as those in any other Apatow-produced film. Juno Temple, who plays Eema (who, perhaps not coincidentally, has an emo look), is especially underutilized. Christopher Mintz-Plasse (a.k.a. McLovin) is similarly underused as Isaac.

The bottom line of this film is that it's just plain awful. The plot is cringe-inducing, and the sheer level of historical inaccuracy made me, as a history major, want to walk out in protest. (Also, I'm not exactly a Bible scholar, but I'm pretty sure the stories of the forbidden fruit, Cain and Abel, Abraham and Isaac and Sodom and Gomorrah weren't going on at the exact same time.) The only thing that redeems this film from a D rating is Michael Cera's performance. If you're a fan of his work, at least wait for the $1 Redbox rental, because "Year One" isn't worth a trip to the theatre.

Rating: C-

Originally Published: Issue 806 - July 1, 2009

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