Crass doesn’t cut it in ‘Year One’

The credits of talented comedy veterans Harold Ramis and Judd Apatow include “Ghostbusters” and “Knocked Up.” They now team up to produce and direct a film that is a pale shadow of their previous efforts. “Year One” is a juvenile farce with off-color jokes that clearly yearn for the R rating. Instead, the childish humor is truncated and dumbed down to gain a questionable PG-13 rating that will only satisfy the youngest nerds in the audience.

Jack Black and Michael Cera play ancient hunter/gatherers who get banished from their tribe. They set off on silly adventures that end up skewing every biblical reference known to Hollywood. The tragedy of Cain and Abel is played for laughs. Twisted stories of High Priests, religious history, slavery and human sacrifices are all part of the fun. Bathroom functions, gay bashing and sexual references fill the screenplay.

There are plenty of minor chuckles sprinkled throughout the story. But the real laughs are few and far between. Seeing “The Hangover” a second time will probably produce more mirth for your money than this tired formula flick.

‘The Proposal’: I say ‘I Don’t’

“The Proposal” makes you wonder — does anybody still know how to make a decent, original romantic comedy? You know a movie’s in trouble when a puppy gets the biggest laughs.

Blatantly borrowing from “The Devil Wears Prada,” Sandra Bullock plays Margaret, another stiletto- heeled editor who makes life hell for her pretty assistant — in this scenario, played by Ryan Reynolds.

Margaret bribes Andrew (Reynolds) with a promotion so he will marry her and she can avoid deportation to Canada. In an attempt to make everything look legit, they fly to Andrew’s family compound in Alaska. You can’t see Russia from their house, but you sure can see every plot point coming from a mile away.

Bullock has always been deft at physical comedy, and she gets a couple of genuinely funny moments, particularly in a nude scene (wasn’t that in “Something’s Gotta Give”?).

Old pros Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson and Betty White bravely wade knee-deep through this cliché-ridden script. Even the outtakes are as funny as a pair of mukluks.

The wedding chapel scene, taken straight out of “While You Were Sleeping,” aptly sums up Reynolds’ performance and made me want to “Speed” to the nearest exit.

JOHN DEPKO is a Costa Mesa resident and a senior investigator for the Orange County public defender’s office. SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant for a financial services company.