Year One: DVD Review

Year One: DVD Review

Year One
Released by Sony Home Entertainment
Rating: M
It was one of the films I enjoyed least of 2009 so it was with a degree of trepidation that I watched the DVD and Blu Ray release of Year One, the comedy with Jack Black and the ever brilliant Michael Cera.
They play Zed and Oh respectively, a pair of cavemen who find themselves kicked out of their tribe and thrust into the real world. Along the way, the feeble hunter (Black) and the timid gatherer (Cera) form an unlikely friendship and find themselves in a bit of a predicament.
The problem with Year One is the script - it's clearly not with the performers and the legendary director Harold Ramis (who may be destined to be remembered for Groundhog Day) but the material is a little feeble and just tragically unfunny - which is not great for a comedy.
There are some great supporting performances as well from the likes of House's Olivia Wilde as an empress and Cera's fellow Arrested Developmenter David Cross - but it's just not enough to pull the film together and make it any more cohesive.
Year One ranks as one of the year's hugest disappointments - younger teens will love it - but the rest of us may wonder what's so funny.
Extras: Quite a good collection here - a theatrical and unrated version give you twice the thrills if you feel like it; alternate scenes, deleted scenes, gag reels, commentary with director and stars and a featurette are the lion's share of the extras

Rating: 4/10