Metascore
34 out of 100

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 28 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 28
  2. Negative: 14 out of 28
  1. 38
    I found the most extreme material to be so tasteless that it voided all comedy.
  2. This is just silliness run mildly wild.
  3. Year One has one joke, but it's a good one, played for many variations over the course of an often very funny comedy.
  4. Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    25
    Any good will the movie generates, though, is grated right back off by Black, whose obnoxiousness has lost whatever charm it once possessed.
  5. 20
    The only people who should be peeved enough to raise hell about Year One are the viewers who had to pay to sit through it.
  6. Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    50
    The humor, largely centered around bodily functions and bathroom habits, is almost exclusively sophomoric.
  7. 20
    Creatively it's a giant step backwards.
  8. 50
    Year One is not really THAT bad and not ENTIRELY without laughs.
  9. The people who made Year One seem to think that all you have to do to make a hit comedy is get a bunch of jokesters together. But where are the jokes?
  10. It's the knockabout biblical lark Mel Brooks never got around to making.
  11. Perhaps the best that can be said for Year One is that it aims low and hits the mark.
  12. 63
    At best it's a bit like Mel Brooks' "The History of the World Part I" (except Ramis stops somewhere in Genesis); at worst it's like a Scary Movie-type parody of John Huston's "The Bible."
  13. 30
    Year One sets prehistoric comedy back at least 20 years.
  14. 38
    Its script isn't worth the papyrus it's inscribed on.
  15. A thoroughly, sometimes gaggingly broad and sly conceptual laugh-in.
  16. During all of the film’s oh-so-long 97 minutes, Year One, barely earns a snicker.
  17. A lowbrow, only fitfully amusing comedy.
  18. A lot of comedic talent founders in this new Harold Ramis comedy that doesn't exactly recall his glory days of "Caddyshack" and "Groundhog Day."
  19. Reviewed by: Ronnie Scheib
    50
    Lacks seismic guffaws but elicits many mild smiles.
  20. 10
    This is shtick that’s minimally a generation past its expiration date.
  21. Dopey but resourceful yukfest.
  22. Reviewed by: Dan Jolin
    40
    Unless you pine for second-tier Mel Brooks, you'll find more laughs in the Old Testament itself.
  23. Reviewed by: Robert Calvert
    12
    We loved this movie the first three times we saw it, when it was called "Life of Brian," "Wholly Moses," and "History of the World Part 1."
  24. Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    50
    I have a certain affection for this movie, if only because of its conceptual simplicity.
  25. Reviewed by: Betsy Sharkey
    40
    There is no real plot either; instead the narrative seems designed to get this prehistoric pair from one funny sketch to the next, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't.
  26. Reviewed by: Robert Wilonsky
    0
    Unbearably painful from shrugging start to outtakes-laden finish, Harold Ramis’ half-assed, hare-brained return to writing and directing makes Mel Brooks’ equally muddled, soporific "History of the World, Part 1" look downright majestic by comparison.
  27. Reviewed by: Josh Modell
    42
    Year One isn't dreadful; it just isn't nearly as funny as it hopes to be.
User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 129 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 33 out of 68
  2. Negative: 27 out of 68
  1. It was kind of funny, but it was also full of gross, unnecessary dialogue. Overall, it was O.K., but I am giving it a 3 out of disgust. One of Jack Black, the #1 comedian in the world's weakest movies. Full Review »
  2. Ummmm... What can I say about this movie? It has disapointed me more then all the past god of war knock-off movies combined. As a christian I am thouroughly offended by the jokes and during the entire film there were bladenly obvious and unclever sexual references and jokes. I'm all for them if there clever and funny (arrested development for example) but I almost hated sopmorical humor after watching this piece of s***. I am not even kidding one of my friends I was watching this with just walked out and I discussed with my other friend wether we should join him or not and now I wish I did. I am not even kidding when I say that I double dipped with my two friends to watch the new (now old) star trek and felt no shame as year one was worth getting paid to watch. Full Review »
  3. 10
    I really don't understand the low rating because I absolutely loved this movie. I've watched it several times and could keep on watching it again and again. I wasn't a Jack Black fan before seeing this, but now I'm more interested in seeing his movies. Michael Cera was terrific, as one might expect. Full Review »