Year One

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

reviewed by Christopher Lyon

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The Story

It’s a road trip buddy comedy set in cave man days and the book of Genesis, featuring a couple of early humans who talk and act like regular guys from the 21st century. And it’s a comedy that seems eager to make fun of key elements of the Old Testament.

Zed (Jack Black) and Oh (Michael Cera) are booted from their tribe when Zed willfully eats what looks like a golden apple from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and accidently burns down the village. On the run, they happen upon two brothers named Cain (David Cross) and Able (Paul Rudd), just as one kills the other. At dinner with the rest of Adam’s family that night, the patriarch offers his lesbian daughter Lilith for Zed to “be fruitful” with and a sheep-obsessed son to sleep with Oh.

Next, Zed and Oh stumble upon Abraham (Hank Azaria) about to sacrifice his son Isaac (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). Taking their intrusion as God’s intervention, Abraham spares the boy and later warns them not to go to evil nearby Sodom because God is going to destroy it. When invited to be circumcised along with Isaac, the pair head straight for Sodom to sample the sin and rescue two women from their village back home.

After becoming unlikely palace guards in Sodom, Zed gets conned into going into the “holy of holies” of Sodom’s gods by Princess Inaana (Olivia Wilde), who wants to see if he’ll really die as she has been taught. Oh is favored by the priest of the gods (Oliver Platt) and made to rub hot oil on his fat, hairy torso.

Content Issues

In addition to quite a bit of harsh language, the film includes a whole catalog of crude and sexual humor from onscreen poop-eating, vomiting, and upside-down urinating to numerous, constant jokes about all the obvious sexual body parts, sexual acts, and sexual orientations.

Worldview Talking Points

Students who are fans of the cancelled-but-esteemed sit-com “Arrested Development”—and those lured by reviews like this one pointing out all its objectionable content—may be interested in “Year One.” The cast includes “Arrested” alums Michael Cera, David Cross, and others, along with Jack Black and several actors from the comedy troupe of popular filmmaker Judd Apatow.

Even most secular critics agree, though, that it’s just not that funny. Writer/director Harold Ramis seems to have given his actors lots of room to improvise in hopes of making big comedy, but for whatever reason these funny comedians don’t seem able to come up with the right material to be funny here.

Worse—and the most obvious point of discussion with any kids who have seen the film—Ramis and co. seemed intent on generating comedy by mocking stories from the Bible, along with the idea of faith in God or gods. They make a joke out of Cain’s killing of Able, Abraham’s faith in a God who talks to him (including God’s covenant promise), and the many sins of the people Sodom which God chose punish by destroying the town—something that never happens in the film.

Obviously, we’re not recommending the film to anyone. It manages both to mock God’s Word and be dull at the same time; a whole row of younger people walked out in the middle of the screening I attended. But if your son or daughter did see the film, we hope of a few of these questions will generate some productive conversation about it.

• What did you think of this movie? Who are some of your favorite performers from the cast?
• Do you think the idea of the movie was good, to set a couple of modern-sounding guys in the middle of ancient history?
• Lots of critics hated the movie. Why do you think they disliked it so badly?
• Were you surprised by how crude the film was? Why or why not?
• Does it bother you when movies seem to be mocking the Bible or faith in God?
• Do you believe those stories shown in the film—Cain and Able, Abraham sacrificing Isaac, God’s judgment of Sodom—really happened historically? Why or why not?
• What is the danger of making jokes about things that God’s Word shows He takes very seriously?
• To the best of your memory, what really happened between Cain and Able?
• The movie got a lot of the details of Cain’s story right, in a way. Why do you think someone who knows it so well would think it’s funny to make fun of the story?
• The film almost makes Abraham seem like a crazy person who thinks that God talks to him, telling Him to kill his son, circumcise people, and making big promises about lots of land. Do you remember anything God’s Word says about Abraham’s faith? (Parents: Think about reading about Abraham’s faith in Hebrews 11:8-19.)
• Why do you think so many people in the world think of faith in God as a joke?
• Why do you believe in God? Do you think your faith in God is reasonable?
• Do you think it’s dangerous to mock God’s Word or belief in Him? Why or why not? (Parent: Think about reading Galatians 6:7-8 with your student.)
• Do you remember what the Bible says really happened to the city of Sodom and why? (Parent: Think about reading Genesis 19 together.)
• Why do you think God takes sin so seriously?
• Do you think we take sin seriously enough, given how big of deal it is to God?
• We all sin. Why doesn’t God destroy us for our sin? (Parent: Be sure to emphasize God’s punishment of our sin through Jesus on the cross—as well as God’s grace and forgiveness to those who trust in Jesus.)
• Do you think it hurts anything for us to watch movies like “Year One”? What’s the danger of being entertained or laughing along with stories that seem to be mocking God and faith in Him?

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