Year One has been roundly panned as an absolute turkey with a Metacritic score of 34 out of 100 and a 16% positive review ratio from Rotten Tomatoes. Is it really that bad?

You may remember Harold Ramis as Dr. Egon Spengler in the Ghostbusters films but he has long been a comedy writer and director of some repute. Highlights include Animal House, Caddyshack and of course Groundhog Day. In more recent years he has been responsible for Analyze This, Bedazzled and Analyze That. If I had to analyze that I’d say he was gradually becoming less and less funny and Year One most definitely highlights the trend.

This historical comedy stars Jack Black as Zed and Michael Cera as Oh, a couple of dim-witted cavemen who embark on an adventure through various biblical settings after Zed accidentally burns down their village. Zed is a useless hunter, Oh is a gatherer and they make a pretty poor comedy double act because there isn’t much buddy chemistry going on between them. In fact Jack Black is so overbearing you can easily forget the quiet Cera is even there.

As they trek off into the unknown they meet Cain and Abel followed by Abraham and Isaac and then eventually end up in Sodom. They find the objects of their desire in slavery along with the rest of their former village and attempt a rescue of sorts which leads Zed to declare himself the chosen one and spark a revolt in the city.

The film obviously intends to poke fun at religion but it lacks the wit or originality of something like Monty Python’s Life of Brian. Many of the jokes here are like individual comedy sketches which make the film feel very disjointed. There are several corny gags that barely raise a smile and a fair portion of slapstick physical comedy.

There are a few decent names in the cast but everyone from Oliver Platt as the High Priest through to Hank Azaria as Abraham goes for a hammy over the top approach. They are practically winking at the camera as they deliver poor double entendres and a string of groan inducing gags. The truth is Year One isn’t anywhere near as clever as it aspires to be and a more fitting comparison with another film would be with Mel Brooks History of the World Part 1.

There is no doubting the comedy pedigree of Harold Ramis but despite a big budget and plenty of talent at his fingertips there is no arguing that Year One is a good comedy film. The lack of a plot could be forgiven if it actually made you laugh but the writing is uncharacteristically lazy. The film probably isn’t quite as bad as some critics have made out and it suffers from high expectations which are undeniably crushed upon viewing. As a throwaway piece of mild entertainment it would almost be passable but a $60 million budget was squandered on this and many of us were conned into shelling out hard earned cash to sit through it by a big advertising campaign. Maybe it’s just as well Ramis is only scheduled to act in the forthcoming Ghostbusters III and is not listed amongst the writers.