Year One (2009)

Director:

Harold Ramis

Writers (WGA):

Harold Ramis (screenplay) &
Gene Stupnitsky (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

19 June 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy

Tagline:

Meet your ancestors

Plot:

Zed, a prehistoric would-be hunter, eats from a tree of forbidden fruit and is banished from his tribe...

Plot Keywords:

Sodom | Hunter | Cain And Abel | High Priest | Box Office Flop

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Jack Black	...	Zed
Michael Cera	...	Oh
Oliver Platt	...	High Priest
David Cross	...	Cain
Christopher Mintz-Plasse	...	Isaac
Vinnie Jones	...	Sargon
Hank Azaria	...	Abraham
Juno Temple	...	Eema
Olivia Wilde	...	Princess Inanna
June Diane Raphael	...	Maya
Xander Berkeley	...	King
Gia Carides	...	Queen
Horatio Sanz	...	Enmebaragesi
David Pasquesi	...	Prime Minister
Matthew Willig	...	Marlak (as Matthew J. Willig)

Also Known As:

The Year One (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

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.)

Runtime:

97 min | 100 min (unrated version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #44270) | Ireland:15A | Finland:K-11 | Iceland:7 | UK:12A | Singapore:NC-16 | Canada:G (Quebec) | France:U | Sweden:7 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Mexico:B15 | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

New Mexico, USA

Company:

Apatow Productions

Trivia:

Stanley Tucci was cast to play the Biblical character Noah. But due to the box-office failure of Evan Almighty (2007) the scenes featuring Noah were not filmed.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Michael Cera's character first appears with the gold paint on he has no eyeliner on. Then midway through his conversation he has thick black eyeliner on.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Zed: To the north!
Maya: You know that that's west.
Zed: Mmm hmm, yeah, I was just checking to see if you knew. To the west!
[under his breath]
Zed: I'm already glad you're here.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Fred: Fred Gets Dissed at Bible School (#3.6)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Robot Dance

Judge for yourself.

I've been looking forward to this movie ever since I saw the trailer for the first time back in February. I didn't go to see it on the opening night, and then, having read all of the bad reviews here on IMDb, I was pretty put off, fearing that this is one of those movies that don't live up to a great trailer.

But I went anyway, and was not disappointed. Maybe I enjoyed it so much because I brought along low expectations, a light mood, and had Haagen Dazs just before the flick.

On the bright side, Year One is riddled with humor, some jokes being funnier than others, and yes, as other reviewers have pointed out, some of the jokes are drawn out. Jack Black is admirably suited for the role of the anti-hero Zed, a sort of Judah Friedlander caveman who fails at everything he does, but fails -so well-. And Michael Cera, the effeminate Oh, is another manifestation of wise casting. Who better to play the virgin gatherer than Cera?

At times, the movie is not -gripping-, and the trailer is a bit misleading, since it gives the impression that the movie would be mostly about cavemen meeting Romans with few biblical allusions. But the entire movie is nearly a parody about the bible, in which another explanation is offered for some of the miracles of the Old Testament.

The moments when the movie is dull are few, and the dialog and characterization make up for it. Zed remains faithful to his inadequate anti-hero character throughout, and Oh keeps getting into worse trouble, as he had since the beginning. This is actually one of the best parts, in which every time Zed gets himself and Oh into trouble, Oh is the one to suffer the worse punishment.

In any case, if you want to enjoy this movie, go with a light heart and just try not to take it too seriously.