Talent is wasted on a Biblical scale in Harold Ramis' "Year One." Blending religious and historical events together into one vague, "back-in-the-day" skit, "Year One" never approaches the kindred films of yesteryear like "History of the World Part 1" or "Life of Brian".

Zed (Jack Black) and Oh (Michael Cera) are hunter-gatherers, who fail at the only two jobs available to them: hunting and gathering. They do manage to have love-interests, Maya (June Diane Raphael) and Eema (Juno Temple). Like Zed's aim with a spear, there is little accuracy here. One of many anachronisms is the presence of a Tree of Knowledge, from which Zed eats the forbidden fruit, with no apparent effect.

Zed and Oh are banished from the tribe. In their ensuing adventure, they meet Biblical characters including Cain and Abel (David Cross and Paul Rudd), and Abraham and Isaac (Hank Azaria and Christopher-Mintz Plasse). Though Cross and Azaria deliver some laughs, these encounters are, like Earth was considered at the time, flat.

Our heroes then find themselves in the city of Sodom, now employed as royal guards to the Princess Inanna (Olivia Wilde), who takes an interest in Zed. Maya and Eema, who have been sold into slavery, turn up here too. They are to be sacrificed to the rain gods by the hairy and horny High Priest (Oliver Platt), who is one of the few sources of humor in this pained plot.  www.130q.com

Though much of the action takes place in Sodom, the only orgy to be had in "Year One" is of the scatological kind, as viewers are subjected to various kinds of crap, piss, fart, and vomit jokes. Someone is even struck by a thrown testicle.

Cera and Black do their familiar shticks, but without much of a movie around them, they often seem to be talking to themselves. The least funny thing about "Year One" is how Harold Ramis ("Ghostbusters", "Groundhog Day") wrote such a screenplay, along with co-writers Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg ("The Office").

Though "Year One" feels longer than it is, you may wish it were a bit longer, just so you could watch Sodom, and the rest of the film, be destroyed.

故事发生在很久很久以前，乍得(杰克•布莱克饰演)和奥尔(迈克尔•塞拉饰演)是一个原始部落中的猎人。两人因为不遵守部落中的规矩而被驱逐，于是两人互相为伴，踏上了离群的旅程。沿途他们遇见了亚当和夏娃、该隐和亚伯、亚伯拉罕等一系列圣经人物，亲眼见证了一系列圣经故事的发生。最后，他们来到了传说中的罪恶之城索多玛，然而这个地方在他们看来简直宛如天堂，于是也注定了这个地方成为他们旅途的终点……
 
 

堪称“古装版《菠萝特快》”，用现代青少年的娱乐眼光来解构公元元年的恶搞喜剧。终日混迹于原始部落“派对”的猥琐衰男(杰克•布莱克饰)和正太宅男(迈克尔•塞拉饰)，决心出行寻找生命新刺激，一路上既遇到了洪水猛兽，又邂逅了美食靓女，更有颠覆《圣经》的“亚伯和该隐”兄弟半路杀出来，且看没正形的古人们如何逗趣吧。
 
无论阿帕图台前导演或是幕后制片，影片总会被打上他浓厚的个人标记。本片中，阿帕图继续向新的禁忌领域发起挑战——宗教。而且，上来便直接剑指基督教最为神圣《圣经》。作为基督教的纲领红头文件，《圣经》中的故事早已是家喻户晓，而这中观众的事前认知正是恶搞类喜剧成功的最重要因素。只不过，在宗教国家那这样的题材开涮还是得留点神。然而，影片分级上赫然标注着PG13的符号。这恐怕是阿帕图为数不多的一次“降低标准”，也说明了本片中阿帕图还是有所收敛的。 
 

贾德•阿帕图制片的作品连续三年突破1亿美元大关的势头，被去年《菠萝特快》止步8700万美元的小波折打断——而造成该片无力追随前辈脚步的搅局者，正是杰克•布莱克有份主演的《热带惊雷》，这部电影也成为“烂仔帮”在新兴的“阿帕图系”面前溃不成军后的一次反弹。眼看蒂娜•菲也要来大银幕分一杯羹，斯蒂夫•马丁和艾迪•莫菲等前辈又不老不死，“烂仔帮”与“阿帕图系”终于以亚当•桑德勒和贾德•阿帕图的“同寝联盟”《理发师佐翰》为先锋，同流合污。《公元元年》正是在此大势所趋之下涌现出的又一员战将，同周虽有专攻女性的《求婚大作战》死磕，但男权至上的本片应不为所动……

无论杰克•布莱克的肥坏癫痫，迈克尔•塞拉的羸弱呻吟或者是哈罗德•雷米斯宝刀不老都不足以完全代表本片全部，只有再加上制片人贾德•阿帕图的名号，我们才能真正对影片内容有一个正确的判断。从《四十岁老处男》到《一夜大肚》再到《菠萝快递》，贾德•阿帕图一再用性、毒品等禁忌包装着冷人捧腹的喜剧，挑战好莱坞影片分级尺度。在这个过程中我们见识了阿帕图式的无R不喜剧，也见证了阿帕图摆脱地产大亨老爸的光环竖起了在好莱坞中自己的一面喜剧旗帜。
 
作为制片人，阿帕图除了提纲挈领的把握影片整体走向之外，对于影片来说作出的最大贡献就是以其个人号召力引来了各路喜剧豪杰的加盟。这其中有不少是他一直以来麾下的爱将，如迈克尔•塞拉，另外哈罗德•雷米斯与阿帕图的合作也不止一次了，《一夜大肚》中他就曾在片中客串本的老爸，而本片除了导演他也将继续客串某一配角，足以看出雷米斯对于阿帕图电影世界的向往之情。只有杰克•布莱克与阿帕图在本片中是首次合作。近年来靠《摇滚学校》、《金刚》、《王牌制片人》、《功夫熊猫》等影片获得广泛知名度的肥杰克在喜剧圈内同阿帕图一样炙手可热。此次两人联手合作也必定碰撞出更多激情的火花。另外，对于本片半模仿秀的套路杰克可以说早就驾轻就熟，早在《王牌制片人》中他就已经过足了恶搞的瘾，而且当初在《王牌制片人》中杰克也曾毫不留情的将本片导演哈罗德•雷米斯的《捉鬼敢死队》拿来整蛊，主创团队彼此都有着如此丰富的“前世姻缘”，想必在本片中再续佳话也是指日可待，也难怪本片能从三不沾的春季档被发行方一手提升至了激情的暑期档。

文/夸克电影