There's no point to it, just a series of gags -- in both senses of the word.
Comment
06/19/09
Year One (2009)
15
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:149
Fresh:23
Rotten:126
Average Rating:3.9/10
Consensus: Year One is a poorly executed, slapdash comedy in which the talent both in front of and behind the camera never seem to be on the same page.
Theatrical Release:26-06-2009
Synopsis: When a couple of lazy hunter-gatherers (Jack Black and Michael Cera) are banished from their primitive village, they set off on an epic journey through the ancient world in Columbia Pictures'... [More]
Starring: Jack Black, Michael Cera, Oliver Platt, David Cross
Director: Harold Ramis
Reviews for Year One
Year One is a slapdash concoction with an overreliance on scatological gags and a long lag time between laughs. I freely admit that. Yet I have a certain affection for this movie, if only because of its conceptual simplicity.
06/19/09
Let's start with the praise because there won't be much: As comedy pairings go, you could do a lot worse than Jack Black and Michael Cera.
06/19/09
Expect to be amused, not hilarioused.
06/19/09
Somehow, despite the presence of those reliable actors and the highly advanced skills of comic veterans Harold Ramis and Judd Apatow behind the scenes, Year One manages to be a dud.
06/19/09
[S]et[s] back the noble causes of blasphemy, rational thinking, and humanism about a century... doesn't even have the nerve to be profane...
06/19/09
The jokes are so laden with groaners you almost expect to hear rim shots after every line.
06/19/09
Cecil B. DeMille meets Monty Python meets Superbad, Year One has some funny moments, but it eventually flops.
06/19/09
Audiences get clubbed by some pretty old shtick in Year One
06/19/09
Ramis seems paralyzed from the get-go, ineptly grappling with an overgrown Saturday Night Live routine that squanders every chance at clever humor it gets.
06/19/09
There's no shortage of anatomical jokes, scatological jokes, and fart jokes, toilet humor being the last refuge of a spent comedy writer.
06/19/09
Year One is easy to hate, especially if you loathe Jack Black's hammy shtick, think Michael Cera peaked in Arrested Development or you have a worn Bible in your bedroom... and you're not living in a Super 8. But I loved it.
06/19/09
The picture's desperate, teen-baiting assemblage of fart jokes, dick jokes, poop-nibbling and urine inhalation are a constant reminder that no matter how ancient the setting's supposed to be, the land of lame Hollywood japery is always near.
06/19/09
At its best, "Year One" is offensive. ... At its worst, however, it's downright repulsive.
06/19/09
The obligatory gross-out moments function as camouflage for what proves to be a surprisingly trenchant critique of the human penchant for violence, greed, deceit, hubris and, especially, religious superstition.
06/19/09
This is Jack Black and Michael Cera doing Jack Black and Michael Cera, the problem is that that was funny about three years ago and now it's just kind of predictable and boring.
06/19/09
[Ramis] does little with the loss of innocence idea, and doesn't really find the laughs to make the premise go the distance.
06/19/09
Cut it into small pieces and many bits are a giggle: string them all together and it starts to wear thin. Strangely for Ramis, it's not aggressive enough.
06/19/09
Year One is little more than Religulous with fart jokes.
06/19/09
Year One seems destined to earn the dubious distinction of being the one movie released in the summer of 2009 that made another trapped-in-time adventure, Land of the Lost, seem like a masterpiece by comparison.
06/19/09
Latest News for Year One
June 20, 2009:
Crude cavemen encounter Biblical events in raunchy road comedy. 
More...
June 19, 2009:
The Friday Harvest: This Week's Best Pictures, Posters, and Video
Happy Friday Harvest, a weekly round-up of the best pictures, posters, and videos that have become available for viewing/download on Rotten Tomatoes. Each section features the... More...
June 18, 2009:
Black's biggest idiot in the village, overly flirty heathen turned moronic messiah tries to hunt and gather copious hairy bodied babes who really know how to stroke their spears, while a shackled Cera pees upside down through his collar.
More...
June 18, 2009:
Box Office Guru Preview: Proposal and Year One Bring More Laughs
Five of the top six films are comedies right now but Hollywood believes that's not enough so two new laughers open on Friday to give moviegoers even more options. Sandra Bullock... More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Fresh Links
Featured
RT on YouTube
Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.
RT on Twitter
Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.
IGN RSS Feeds