Year One
The trailer for "Year One" didn't have me too excited about the film. I'm a fan of both Jack Black and Michael Cera so seemingly the two of them starring together would be enough reason for me to be anticipating the film. The situation seemed a little bland and most of the jokes fell flat in the trailer. It's not a comedic gold mine and it has its weak moments. Still, it is a far funnier and entertaining movie than I expected.
Zed, played by Jack Black, is a failed gatherer turned atrocious hunter in his village. He ends up letting the hunters' meal get away and stabs one of his fellow hunters instead. One of Zed's only friends in the village, Oh, played by Michael Cera, is a gatherer. Oh is also fed up with his lifestyle, but goes along with things anyway simply because that is the way things have always been. Zed feels there is something better out there; that there is a higher purpose for his life. He challenges the rules when tasting the forbidden fruit, which gets him kicked out of the village. He pleas with others to come with him and sets the village on fire in the process. Everyone blames this on him and one of the hunters is sent to kill him. Oh saves him just in time and the two go off to discover what lies over the mountain where they have been told the world ends.
While on their journey, Zed and Oh find Maya and Eema, the two people that they care most about. They find out that their entire village was captured and forced into slavery after they left. They're determined to find a way to set them free. In the meantime, virgins are being burned in raging fires as sacrifices to God because of the horrid drought and famine going on. Zed and Oh are nearly killed a number of times by the guards in the violent yet tempting city of Sodom. They watch Cain, played by David Cross, murder his brother, Abel. Cain turns on them time and time again, even though he does save them from being tortured. Zed and Oh are sold into slavery, become guards, and are eventually imprisoned and stoned. The princess takes a liking to Zed's bravery and thinks he might be the chosen one that will solve all of Sodom's problems. Zed has been feeling this way himself and is determined to save his friends and the town, proving that he is worthy of this title.
The cast made the material more entertaining and likable than it would have been otherwise. Jack Black is great as Zed, the untalented, unwise, but confident and zany ex-hunter. Black uses all of his mannerisms, facial expressions, and tones that gives him such great comedic energy and charisma. He is a joy to watch and accentuates every line. I was expecting Michael Cera's performance to be really overdone. He has played the awkward, but caring guy in nearly every film he has been in. It seemed like this might be the film where audiences would finally be too fed up with it. His sarcastic, matter of fact humor works as well here as it has in every other movie he has been in. I just hope that he will try something new in the future, otherwise he might have a short lived career.
Juno Temple had a lot of chemistry with Cera for not having a ton of screen time. She had a lot of charisma, but shared his straightforward humor with a more subtle technique. June Diane Raphael did pretty well as the more sensible counterpart to Black's Zed. Olivia Wilde was charming, but also captured the role of the high and mighty princess. She brought out a fine line between sweetness and sinfulness, presenting the question of whether she could be trusted. Vinnie Jones portrayed the chiseled and desirable warrior, Sargon, with brute and intensity. Oliver Platt gave one of my least favorite performances in the film. This was mostly due to his unappealing, dense character. Still he was over the top in portraying the extremely hairy and grotesque high priest. David Cross and Paul Rudd had a very funny dynamic together as the brothers, Cain and Abel. Cross had much more screen time and successfully brought out the deceptive, conniving murderer in his character. Christopher Mintz-Plasse was a lot of fun to watch as the fearful, yet cunning Isaac, on the run from his father and his plans of castration.
"Year One" is completely historically inaccurate and there really isn't one solid story. The basic structure is one crazy journey that happens to span over several different ages in history and different places without actually acknowledging this. The story is shifted whenever the location changes and it gets off track continuously. It would have been better if it was more accurate and coherent. Still, in this type of a comedy, it doesn't really affect the film very much. The different people, locations, and time periods enable it to be a goofy movie, applying modern day humor and language to primitive beings. This is what the film cares about more than anything else and it delivers on its premise. The film runs a little long, but this is mostly because there isn't a lot of development in what we see. Overall, the film utilizes its stellar cast in a surprisingly funny film.