Please Note

RATING:

PG-13 for crude and sexual content throughout, brief strong language and comic violence.

GENRE:

Comedy

RELEASE:

June 19, 2009

STARRING:

Jack Black, Michael Cera, Oliver Platt, David Cross, Hank Azaria, Vinnie Jones, Juno Temple, Olivia Wilde

DIRECTOR:

Harold Ramis

DISTRIBUTOR:

Sony Pictures Releasing

 

Please Note

In providing movie reviews on our site, CBN.com is not endorsing or recommending films we review. Our goal is to provide Christians with information about the latest movies, both the good and the bad, so that our readers may make an informed decision as to whether or not films are appropriate for them and their families.

MOVIE REVIEW

Year One

By Hannah Goodwyn
CBN.com Producer

What's This?

CBN.com - Jack Black’s new comedy Year One begins as his character Zed and friend Oh, played by Michael Cera, are banished from their prehistoric village. As the story unfolds, moviegoers may feel a strong urge to banish this movie from the theaters for its gross-out comedy that is just way over the top. Marketed as a comedy, this lackluster “funny” film is so-far-beyond inappropriate for kids, teens, and anyone who has even a shred of a conscience.

The Movie in a Minute

Zed and Oh set off on a wild adventure after being kicked out of their village for eating an apple from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Beyond the mountains, they discover an unknown world, meeting a few biblical characters along the way. They witness the violent murder of Abel by his jealous brother Cain, stop Abraham from sacrificing Isaac, and end up in the happenin’ city of Sodom, close neighbors to Gomorrah. All the while, they are on a personal quest to free their women, who have been sold as slaves to the royalty of Sodom.

What’s So Bad about Year One?

Technically rated PG-13, this film is dangerously close to the R side of the rating scale. The biggest disappointment in Year One has to be the constant barrage of sexual references and vulgar comedy. Here are two examples:

• Zed picks up what he believes is human waste. He discovers it is bear feces, but only after licking and eating it.
• Zed and Oh are convicted of a long list of crimes including the refusal to commit sodomy, apparently a favorite sin among the townspeople of Sodom.

Another strike against Year One is the movie’s ridiculous timeline. Apparently, squishing thousands of years of human history into one time period is all right. Year One also is way off base when it comes to portraying the lives of God’s people as recorded the Bible.

• Adam, Cain and Abel’s father, encourages Zed and Oh to lay with his son and daughter because the Lord has commanded them to “be fruitful and multiply.”
• Cain and Abel’s sister Lilith tells Zed as he is in her bed that she is a lesbian.
• Zed and Oh stop Abraham from killing Isaac, saying they were sent by God.
• Abraham and company talk about circumcisions in detailed terms.

The Final Judgment

To say this movie is offensive is an understatement. The gay characters, the High Priest (Oliver Platt) and the royal Eunuch, push this movie over the top. Profanity is used throughout the film, and the innuendos are too numerous to recount.

If the chatter heard at the local screening is any indication, then this movie was made for corrupt teenage boys, which is a shame. It could have been so much better, if so much junk didn’t cloud the comedy.

Hannah Goodwyn serves as a producer for CBN.com. For more articles and information, visit Hannah's bio page.

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