Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave the film a "fair-good" review of 2.5/4 stars stating that "Year One won't join his list of essential comedies, the ones Ramis helped create as writer, director, performer or combination thereof." Claudia Puig of USA Today gave the film 2/4 stars complaining that the film "is scattershot and silly, squandering its potential by relying on juvenile bawdy humor". Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 1 star out of 4, stating that the film "is a dreary experience, and all the ending accomplishes is to bring it to a close". Kyle Smith of the New York Post gave the film 1.5 stars out of 5 saying it was "mediocre at best."