Yes Man

I wanted to see this movie in the cinema, but didn't.
My wife isn't really a Jim Carrey fan where as I have been ever since Dumb & Dumber.
Have I seen all his films though? No.
Obviously I've now seen his 2008 film, Yes Man, as here is the review.



Here's the movie poster
And here is the movie trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0xaAuRgFL0

Now I know that Jim Carrey has successfully branched out into serious roles, but this movie was promoted as a comedy. When I hear "comedy" and "Jim Carrey" I think of his previous movies like the aforementioned Dumb And Dumber, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and Liar Liar.
Yes Man could've been a real comeback to Jim's comedic days, showcasing the comedy of old, the comedy for which we've loved seeing him perform again and again.



Yes Man offers less of this comedy.



And more of this comedy....

Yep, that's right. There's a fair amount of singing in this movie.
Now I don't know about your tastes, but I hate singing in a comedy. Hate it with a passion.
A lot of the times a song will be put into a comedy simply to eat up time. To extend a movie by an extra 5 to 10 minutes.
A song can also be put in simply because the writers have run out of jokes.
It's a risky thing to have singing in a comedy. If your audience aren't fans of the song, or simply do not know the song (which was my case in the scene above), then you're going to lose them.



Thankfully the film is filled with interesting, entertaining actors playing the roles of Carl Allen's (Jim Carrey) friends and co-workers.
Here we have Nick (John Micheal Higgins), who pulls Carl out of his rut and has him attend a "Yes" seminiar. What Nick doesn't realise is that Carl is so desperate to change his life he starts saying "yes" to everything.



We also have Carl's best friends Peter and Rooney (Bradley Cooper and Danny Masterson respectively). For the most part they play safe, and fun supporting characters.
Rooney has some particularly funny scenes.

I remember reading an article about how supposedly Bradley Cooper stole each scene he appeared in with Jim Carrey. I disagree.
Bradley Cooper was okay in this movie. I dislike Bradley Cooper though.
He irritated the shit out of me in The Hangover (a movie I downright hate anyway), and in subsequent movies I haven't really "clicked" with his characters.
And Bradley's pretty much played the same character is every movie he's appeared in.



For me, the character which stole the scene in every scene was Carl's boss Norman (Rhys Darby). Norman is just so pathetic, but you have to laugh at his enthusiasm.
Surprisingly this was Rhys' first movie. He has since gone on to appear in The Boat That Rocked, and The Flight Of The Concords.
If Rhys keeps up with this quality of work I foresee big things for him.



Another delight to watch is Carl's love interest, Allison (Zooey Deschannel). Allison is a fly-by-night, unconventional character who doesn't like to be weighed down by society's conventions. Zooey is such a professional actress that you don't feel Allison to be annoying in any way.
Again, if she keeps up this quality of work... Big things my friends. Big things.

All up I give this movie 4 out of 10.
It could've been a lot better, but it wasn't. It was certainly funny in parts, and certainly very unfunny in others.
Am I glad I saw this movie now? I'd have to say "yes."

What did you think of this review? Please comment, or email me directly at mgbouw@yahoo.com.au
Until next time!