By Damon Smith

What do you call a comedy without a laugh? Year One – Harold Ramis’s

ramshackle road movie through the paleolithic era, headlined by the promising-sounding duo of Jack Black and Michael Cera.

Black is an unstoppable force of nature, whose nervous energy  lit up High Fidelity, The School Of Rock and Kung Fu Panda.

Cera’s laidback, laconic delivery perfectly suited Juno and Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist.

But put the actors side by side in Year One as hunter gatherers with a nose for adventure and the results are painful.

“The upside-down prisoner has to pee,’’ whimpers Cera as warm urine trickles over his face, up his nose and into his mouth in a throwaway scene that perfectly encapsulates the sophistication and artistry of Ramis’s vision.

Pelt-clad primitives Zed (Black) and Oh (Cera) are incompetent and lazy.

They don’t pull their weight like the other men in their village.

So the friends are banished from the tribe and embark on a quest of self-discovery through an ancient world riddled with danger.

En route, the misfits encounter wondrous creations such as the wheel and colourful characters including feuding brothers Cain  (David Cross) and Abel (Paul Rudd).

Then, inevitably, Zed and Oh unexpectedly find courage and determination in the face of adversity, arriving in Sodom where the flamboyant high priest (Oliver Platt) threatens to sacrifice love interests Maya and Eema (June Raphael and Juno Temple) to the gods.

The buddies plan a daring rescue, but first they must outwit  captain of the guards, Sargon (Vinnie Jones).

Producer extraordinaire Judd Apatow’s recent winning streak, which includes The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, comes to an inglorious end with Year One.

Foolishly, the script begins at the dawn of mankind and merrily incorporates biblical references, which beg unfavourable comparisons with Life Of Brian.

Monty Python’s film may be 30 years old, but it boasts more guffaws in the opening five minutes than Year One can muster in its lifeless entirety.

Rating: 1/5