AFTER the excessively in-your-face shockeroo that ?Bruno? turned out to be, we were a bit leery about the prospect of watching another ?naughty? comedy film, ?Year One,? starring Jack Black and Michael Cera.

Thank goodness, the movie is by no means as gung-ho goony as ?Bruno,? so it can be enjoyed by lovers of un-fetid fun and games at the movies. Although ?Year One? occasionally lets loose with some smelly zingers, its heart and duodenum are in the right place ? so, enjoy away.

Forbidden fruit

In ?Year One,? Black plays a ?prehistoric? man who?s such a loser that his village throws him out to fend for himself ? but, not before he inadvertently burns it down ? after he illegally eats the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Good and Evil.

?Huh? That?s right, the movie spoofs all of human prehistory and history starting from ?well, Year One. This sort of spoofy historical thing was attempted decades ago by Mel Brooks ? but, another crack at the old format isn?t necessarily a bad thing, since ?Year One? does come up with some novel comedic potshots aimed at a number of hapless targets ? like Abel and Cain, Abraham and Isaac, David and Goliath, and a host of other famous/infamous characters plucked straight from the Bible and other historical tomes.

Yes, some of the jokes made at these people?s expense are as old as the Hollywood Hills, but it?s still gonzo fun to see them being goosed by the feckless finger of mirth.

Cain gets a lot of winking attention from Black and his comedic cohorts, perhaps because the film is trying to underscore the human race?s inherent yen for violence and sibling rivalry. Another favorite target is dour, old Abraham, who gets razzed for making circumcision ?trendy.?

Icons

As viewers laugh or groan (depending on how seriously they regard these icons of history), they eventually sense that there?s more to the movie?s historical and biblical zingers than just mirthful malice:

Basically, as the movie follows Black?s loser character through his romp through the pages of history, we see him turn into a winner ? despite his being such a certified klutz.

The ?lesson? here? That, if we just stick to our resolve, we?re all destined for greatness. Now, that may or may not be verified by life in the real world, but it sure is a pleasant, upbeat prospect!

Sassy performance

The film?s writers should also be cited for the clever way that it compresses eons of history into 90 movie minutes, while keeping the jokes coming all the time. They?re helped a lot by Black?s sassy performance ? which, interestingly enough, is almost upstaged by Cera?s own ?sidekick? portrayal, which similarly packs quite a comedic punch.

The ?secret? here is the fact that the movie?s ?old? characters are made to speak in a contemporary way, with all of the sass and crass that go with it. History 101 was never as much fun as this!