When it comes to movie comedies, there is such a thing as “smart-stupid” and then there is “just plain stupid.”  Smart-stupid films are usually made by real smart guys about real stupid characters.  Movies like Dumb and Dumber, or the more recent Hot Rod fit in this category.  They are the type of movie that inspire comments leaving the theaters such as “That was so stupid, but I couldn’t help laughing.”  One of the best smart- stupid films of all-time is Caddyshack, the 1980 directorial debut of Harold Ramis.  Now, Ramis is a very smart guy as he has proved over and over again as a writer, director, and actor.  Unfortunately his new film, Year One, falls clearly into the category of “just plain stupid.”

As the title suggests, the movie takes place in the year 1 (which presumes no B.C.).  Jack Black plays Zed, a caveman-like villager who is a failure as both a hunter and a gatherer, which unfortunately are the only two jobs available to his people.  Michael Cera plays Oh, a more sensitive villager who lacks the caveman manliness to pursue his love interest Eema, who is apparently the only blonde who existed in our first year.

After Zed takes a bite of the forbidden fruit, he is banished from the village.  Although his Jerry Maguire-like plea does not recruit many followers, Oh soon joins him.  They discover a whole new world beyond their jungle, and on their journey they come across an array of popular biblical characters.  They eventually end up in Sodom, the Las Vegas of the first century (“What happens behind the gates of Sodom, stays behind the gates of Sodom”), where they learn that Eema and Zed’s gal Maya have been sold as slaves and may even be sacrificed as virgins to the Gods.  Now Zed and Oh must infiltrate the Sodom guard to save their ladies—and themselves—from certain death.

The movie is a full-on farce and makes no effort whatsoever to be authentic.  In fact, I’ve seen Marx Brothers movies that felt more authentic.  The characters in the film are all decidedly products of the 21st century.  It’s almost as if the cast and crew were digging through a church basement where they found a whole bunch of Christ-era costumes, put them on and played make-believe. 

This strategy could have really worked for the film.  In fact, there were times when it really does.  Often, these moments are the result of witty Michael Cera observations.  But for the most part, the movie just relies on dirty jokes and sight gags involving taste-testing feces, tossing testicles, and massaging Oliver Platt’s Chewbacca-worthy chest hair.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned from watching a lifetime of gross-out movies, it’s that a gross-out gag that’s not funny is just one thing: gross.

Watching this film, I couldn’t help but note the similarities to the recently released Will Ferrell comedy Land of the Lost.  Both movies had concepts that could have been cleverly developed, but both chose instead just to let their big stars go hog-wild.  Ferrell and Black may be funny guys, but a little of each goes a long way.

Year One is rated PG-13 for “crude and sexual content throughout, brief strong language and comic violence. (Edited; originally rated R for some sexual content and language.)  I walked out thinking this was an R-rated film.  There’s a lot of risqué material throughout and it’s certainly not the best movie for kids.

Courtesy of a local publicist, Jeff attended a promotional screening of Year One.