Year One (2009)
Tomatometer
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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.
Australian Theatrical Release:
Jun 18, 2009 Wide
US Box Office: $43,337,279
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
| Tomatometer | Critic | Review | Category |
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 2/5 |
The film is lumpy and self-conscious, the dialogue not very witty. Full Review |
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 3/5 |
Year One is an enjoyable knockabout comedy, but as a satire on human folly it's a disappointment; Ramis could have gone much further underlining the parallels between ancient and modern religious wars. Full Review |
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3/5 |
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. Full Review |
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2.5/5 |
This is no masterpiece, but I'm really fond of Michael Cera. I think he's got something on screen that's very sweet. Full Review |
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0.5/5 |
Year One makes Will Ferrell’s Land of the Lost look like a masterpiece. Full Review |
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1/5 |
Just like the stunt fudge on which Black chows down in his signature scene, Year One is unmistakably crap. Full Review |
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2.5/5 |
The story feels like the pitch developed during a long drinking session — what would you get if you took one of the great comedic filmmakers of the 1980s and put him together with Apatow's Superbad generation? Full Review |
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Director Harold Ramis knows enough about comedy to keep things ticking over nicely. That said, there's something undeniably lazy and tossed off about Year One: everyone feels like they're cruising. Full Review |
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3/5 |
Has its moments — especially Black and Cera's knockabout pairing — but Year One sidesteps greatness by allowing too much filler and swill to plug the gaps. Full Review |
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Targeting with surgical precision the teenage market with a keenly juvenile sense of humour, Year One brings together every manner of silliness that can be crammed into the concept. Full Review |
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5/10 |
This one is destined to take its place alongside films like Evan Almighty and Wholly Moses!. Full Review |
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D- |
The only thing that can be mustered up for the whole sorry enterprise is pity. Full Review |
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1.5/4 |
As underwhelming as its buzz might have indicated... Full Review |
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1/4 |
If there's anything sadder than an unfunny comedy, it's an unfunny comedy that tacks on an equally unfunny blooper reel over the closing credits. Full Review |
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2/4 |
[Year One] feels lazy: There's no cheap joke Mr. Ramis and company didn't go for, no gag-worthy gag they didn't include. Full Review |
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1.5/5 |
If there is any justice in the world, there will never be a Year Two. Full Review |
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... a near-total disappointment... it never manages to sustain any momentum from joke to joke or scene to scene or even shot to shot at times. Full Review |
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0/4 |
Boy, does this stink - and I mean almost literally. Full Review |
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D |
Even more embarrassing considering the talent involved. Where art thou Monty Python? Full Review |
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2/5 |
‘Year One’ wants to be seen as a freeform, knockabout trawl through Biblical history, perfect for an undemanding Saturday night. There are only two problems: it’s kind of dull and just isn’t funny. Full Review |
CommentLatest News for Year One
June 20, 2009:
Crude cavemen encounter Biblical events in raunchy road comedy. 
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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.
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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...
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