Year One

The first thing that all these 1 star reviews tells me, is that a large portion of our population has become mind-numb to the subtleties and nuances of comedic brilliance. Perhaps they just prefer loud HD boom-booms, realistic CGI bang-bangs, and pointless choppy action with overblown special effects? Who knows? The movie begins by taking us into a hunter/gatherer village where we meet Black and Cera's characters, Zed and Oh. The chemistry between the two is immediate and within minutes the movie has you smiling. After Zed wreaks a little havoc and eats of the tree of knowledge, he is sent away from the village, Oh joining him somewhat reluctantly. After leaving, their village is raided and the village, including the love interests of the duo, are taken captive. What ensues is Zed and Oh on a hilarious, distracted and mishap filled quest to save them, meeting great characters along the way, such as Adam, Cain (played by David Cross) and Abel, Abraham and Isaac and a most delightful and entertaining high priest (played by Oliver Platt). But Year One is without a doubt a fantastic comedy. Jack Black and Michael Cera have a unique chemistry that works marvelously to deliver their lines with comedic brilliance that simply made this movie. I doubt any other duo would have pulled this off, and without Black and Cera, Year One would have probably been deserving of one star reviews. Add to the delightful comedy delivered through Black and Cera's excellent chemistry, an extremely entertaining David Cross, and you have comedy gold. Cross is often under-rated and overlooked in his roles, but his addition as the character Cain, was perfect. As well as Cross' supporting role, we have Oliver Platt playing the flamboyant high priest with such genius and charisma, he easily competes with Cera in stealing some very funny scenes. Platt's role was incredible and I couldn't imagine anyone playing it better. Some may complain that Jack Black was too Jack Black, and Michael Cera was too Michael Cera; but that's what makes us like them. We fell for their own unique quirky acting styles, and to ask for different in a comedic, satirical adventure movie like this is nonsense. Do I want to see Cera be more like Vin Diesel? Of course not. Would we like to see Black be more Dinero-esque? Not at all. We like Black and Cera precisely because they are Black and Cera, and this seems to have been lost on many reviewers. And the criticisms leveled against this film in regard to depth and historical accuracy are simply puerile. This is a light, relax-and-enjoy-it, type of comedy - not a deep search of soul with a few well placed laughs. And historical accuracy? Really? You can't exactly be "historically accurate" about events, such as Abraham/Isaac, Cain/Abel, Sodom, tree of knowledge, etc., which never happened. Mythology is always open to licentia poetica, and often makes for entertaining interpretations of classic legends. Such silly criticisms are likely just visceral responses from those who simply dislike Black and/or Cera, or from those who find such playful, light comedies to be "beneath" them. For me, I'm hoping very much to see Black and Cera return for 'Year Two.' But the myopic reviews of alleged "film critics" may have squashed any hope of a sure to be fantastic sequel. If you are a fan of comedy films which don't ask you to search your soul, ponder pretentious issues, or question paradigms, but rather draw you toward a relaxing break where you can simply sit back, enjoy the absurd, and laugh at both slapstick and nuanced humor, then check the film out. But if you think a little too much of yourself, and don't quite understand full spectrum of comedy, then you may be a little too narrow-minded and reserved to appreciate the wonderful comedy of this film. If that's you, keep your one star and save your review for something you understand better.

I seem to find myself in the minority here, but I actually liked "Year One". Having seen it in the theater, I thought it was a fairly fun and light-hearted experience all around. The humor is perhaps not as broad as some prefer-but myself, I sort of enjoyed the subtleties. These type of films usually benefit from a second or even third viewing if you give them a chance. In "Year One", Jack Black plays his part adequately but seems to yield the majority of the spotlight to his on-screen cohort Michael Cera. Michael Cera is the real star of "Year One" and Black seems to know it-taking a step back for the younger comedic actor to really shine. Cera's comedic delivery is dry and spot-on for his character "Oh" and he plays the part with real charismatic charm. In short, it is Cera's film, not Black's-and I wouldn't have had it any other way. When it comes down to it, Year One is just a harmless little diversionary film which doesn't take itself too seriously and nor should you. I personally thought it had a lot of wit and charm. Perhaps it just didn't strike the majority of audiences in the same way. That's too bad too because personally, I found this film far more entertaining than some of the summer's bloated special effects films. Surprisingly, this film looks amazing on Blu-Ray too-especially the city scenes.

this is an overlooked gem , my personal favorite, but that being said i’m terribly immature!

Easily i'd say top ten. Though again, I tend to be bias. In the case of this being pre-history and one of my favorite topics, there is a lot. (most people do this but don't admit it. I.E. It's "Not funny" if they don't get the jokes) Regardless, to quickly summarize this movie is fantastic until around 3/4 through it. The rest is actually not that interesting at all. And if I remember correctly, the ending was kind of weak. In depth, It doesn't matter. Because I have had more laughs in that first 3/4 than I have had in almost any movie I have seen. If you get enough of the obvious and subtle references it is great. I absolutely love the theme that it's two English speaking, modern minded people, living in pre-history or "biblical times". The way almost all characters see things and communicate is really what makes this golden to me. It's a reflection of our own reactions when we for example first here that Judaism (and America) decided to whack off that quarter inch of foreskin on male penises. Lastly, the problems are almost as if they ran out of jokes once they hit sodom. Most the writing feels very stretched to fill the void of time left. and there is about 1/4th the amount of good jokes as before. That and that even though the ending really speaks to the heart and I believe is a good theory of what the world should evolve to become (democratical and free), I feel the way they presented it/dialouged it out is very dry and doesn't hit as hard as it could've. Overall this movie is nearing 9.5/10 with me, and is in my top 3. If I had to be honest it's one of the contenders for number 1. Though I never say anything is a 10/10 or a "Number 1".

It's not a bad movie. Silly, but funny at times.

This brand new blu ray was very nicely packaged. It works great.

Great

I like everything about this produce. Couldn’t stop laughing and I have watched it a million times