On DVD: ‘Year One’ may have been funny then

Jack Black and Michael Cera in 'Year One,' now on DVD.

On paper it seemed like a great idea and match. Harold Ramis, whose best directorial ventures include Caddyshack and Groundhog Day, matched up with the mercurial Jack Black as well as Michael Cera.

Unfortunately, their eventual film Year One (Sony), which comes to DVD this week, didn't quite meet expectations. The storyline featured a pair of oddball types reacting and responding to various biblical and historical events, among them Cain's murder of his brother Abel, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac.

But like so many other film comedies set in ancient or prehistoric times, the jokes seemed artificial and stale, and the situations were so overdone and reliant on physical humor there was no irony, satire or spark.

Black and Cera proved capable actors in terms of doing what Ramis provided for them, but Year One never provided more than an occasional laugh and certainly wasn't in the class of the director’s (or Black's) best work.

Still, this unrated DVD version has some interesting things in its 196 minutes, among them some deleted material and backdrops.

Black is such a nonstop, energetic performer that he'll inevitably do something funny or generate a few memorable minutes in even the most lame setting, so Year One every now and then will provide some entertainment. Whether it's enough to justify sitting through this for more than three hours however is another question.

Personally, I'd label this one strictly for fans of Black, Cera or Ramis.

Other releases

Nora Roberts novel Northern Lights provided the source material for a decent, though far from outstanding television movie that aired on Lifetime a few months ago. But both the film and the book were soon eclipsed by the scandal that ensnarled principal actors Eddie Cibrian and LeAnn Rimes, who eventually wound up a couple and also both left their previous partners.

This week Northern Lights (Sony) will be released on DVD, and the subsequent tabloid coverage may actually boost its sales.

The film's script basically followed Roberts’ novel about a former big-city cop named Nate Burns (Cibrian) who came to Lunacy, Alaska, to start over following a shootout that killed his former partner.

Burns blamed himself for the incident, and wanted to get as far away as possible. He meets pilot Meg Gallagher (Rimes), a fiery yet charismatic and type who simultaneously angers and attracts him.

The two are soon drawn into a mystery that tests both Burns' abilities and the couple's love for each other. The added lure in Burns story was the fact it occurred during the winter, a period when there are long stretches of darkness and very little sunlight.

Northern Lights is a routine action/romance work that remains a staple on Lifetime Movie Network, and can fill some hours late at night if you're bored to death and have nothing else to do.

If you enjoy either Rimes' music or Cibrian's acting (he's now a regular on CSI: Miami) then you'll probably like Northern Lights. Otherwise, just get the novel.

TV on DVD

Mister Ed, a sitcom about a talking horse, made network history when it debuted in the middle of the 1960-61 television season. The show had initially been running in syndication and became the first program ever picked up for a network run (by CBS) in the middle of the year.

Despite its unusual (to put it mildly) concept, Mr. Ed enjoyed almost five years on the air, then later a healthy run in syndication.

Mister Ed: The Complete First Season (Shout! Factory), a four-disc boxed set, makes its DVD debut this week. Besides all 26 first-year episodes, there are new interviews with series stars Alan Young and Connie Hines, plus commentary on the pilot program that introduced architect Wilbur Post (Young), his wife Carol (Connie Hines) and the famous horse Mr. Ed, who spoke only to Wilbur (voice of western actor Allan Lane).

The show's humor derived from the fact that Ed was a troublemaking type that enjoyed making messes for Wilbur to clean up, both literally and figuratively. Plus, because it was so absurd for a horse to speak, Wilbur could never explain what was happening or why, nor tell his wife why he was always having conversations in the barn.

Plus, the sarcastic, sometimes withering asides provided by Ed in his comparisons between horses and humans were often quite scathing and funny for the period (early 1960s).

The program was a TV version of the Francis, The Talking Mule movies, though they weren't quite as adventurous. Still, Mister Ed has an charm and innocence that you don't see in contemporary comedies, even if it's highly doubtful such a show could make it on the airwaves today.