Netflix Self-Torture Experiment Trilogy #11: Year One

I feel like I’m taking a bit of a gamble on this movie. Although I like both Jack Black and Michael Cera, the commercials for it looked really stupid.

Synopsis from Netflix: Banished from their primitive village after the tribe elders deem them too lazy, Zed (Jack Black) and Oh (Michael Cera) leave everything they’ve ever known behind and embark upon an adventure-filled journey through the ancient world. Co-starring Hank Azaria, Oliver Platt, Olivia Wilde and David Cross, this epic-sized laffer is a collaborative effort from comedy giants Harold Ramis (Groundhog Day) and Judd Apatow (Knocked Up).

My thoughts: I suppose I shouldn’t be looking for historical accuracy in this type of movie but I’m pretty sure cavemen didn’t exist in Biblical times. Also, Jack Black and Michael Cera are probably the last two people who should be the stars in a film of this kind because their acting styles just don’t fit. Again, I understand about suspending my disbelief, but seeing Jack Black do the robot at an orgy in Sodom was just a little too much for me to handle.

The general plot was decent enough: Zed and Oh go on a journey and encounter various figures from the Biblical era, eventually leading to a quest to save their respective love interests from slavery. Nothing groundbreaking there; just a basic “damsel in distress” storyline. As far as the characters went, David Cross was relatively funny as Cain, but nobody else really stood out in my opinion. (I wish Paul Rudd had stuck around longer, but he played Abel and we all know how that turned out.) Long story short, if I had to sum up Year One in a single word, it would be “meh.” [Two out of five stars.]

3 Notes/ Hide

  1. coyotesqrl said: I haven’t bothered to watch it yet, despite Ramis’ involvement, but figure I’ll eventually give it a go. How many jokes are made about their names being OZ?
  2. spdracerx posted this