Running time: 104 minutes
Starring: Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel, Rhys Darby, Terrence Stamp, Bradley Cooper, Molly Sims
Rating 5 out of 10
Yes Man is based on Danny Wallace's book chronicling his life after vowing to say yes to everything for a year. As a result all kinds of extraordinary things happened to the freelance radio producer including winning $45,000, meeting a hypnotic dog, earning a nursing degree and attending a meeting by a group that believed aliens built the pyramids in Egypt. Unfortunately in Yes Man, no such interesting things befall Carl Allen (Jim Carrey). Instead we get yet another dose of amped up Carrey delivering his usual face-pulling, pratfalling shtick.
Adopting a philosophy of saying yes to every proposition or invitation would inevitably lead to some unlikely scenarios, but Yes Man's three screenwriters and director Peyton Reed have used it as a license to exploit the ridiculous. As a consequence of the film's overarching tone of stupidity, it's impossible to buy into those rare moments when it endeavors to take an even slightly more tender tack.
Without knowing Wallace, the assumption is that he possesses an outgoing, adventurous nature, which makes his undertaking somewhat in keeping with his character. The difference is that in the film when we first meet Allen he is an unlikable, anti-social bore whose default response to any invitation is to say no. A junior loan officer at a bank, his career is going nowhere. His personal life is no better. Still struggling with his divorce from Stephanie (Molly Sims), he spends his nights alone watching videos and ignoring phone calls from his best friend Peter (Bradley Cooper). Indeed, considering how he treats Peter, it's a wonder he even has any friends.
But after being dragged reluctantly to a seminar by the motivational speaker (Terrence Stamp) for a movement whose slogan is "Yes is the New No," Allen adopts their policy of saying Yes to everything. Allen's transformation is immediate and drastic. Overnight he becomes carefree, fun-loving and gregarious. It's not as though his redemption is inspired by the series of absurd events that follow. That would have perhaps required a degree of subtlety and depth on the part of the screenwriters and Carrey who instead are more interested in mining for dumb humour, of which there is plenty.
Inevitably there is a romantic thread. It involves Allen and the eccentric Allison (Zooey Deschanel), a singer in an art rock band at night and by day the leader of a group that combines jogging and photography. Stealing the movie is Rhys Darby as Norman, Allen's boss at the bank. Darby brings echoes of his hilarious role as the band's manager in Flight of the Conchords. But even his efforts can't save Yes Man from being dismissed as further proof that Carrey's once shining star has lost its luster.
Kevin Murphy
Adopting a philosophy of saying yes to every proposition or invitation would inevitably lead to some unlikely scenarios, but Yes Man's three screenwriters and director Peyton Reed have used it as a license to exploit the ridiculous. As a consequence of the film's overarching tone of stupidity, it's impossible to buy into those rare moments when it endeavors to take an even slightly more tender tack.
Without knowing Wallace, the assumption is that he possesses an outgoing, adventurous nature, which makes his undertaking somewhat in keeping with his character. The difference is that in the film when we first meet Allen he is an unlikable, anti-social bore whose default response to any invitation is to say no. A junior loan officer at a bank, his career is going nowhere. His personal life is no better. Still struggling with his divorce from Stephanie (Molly Sims), he spends his nights alone watching videos and ignoring phone calls from his best friend Peter (Bradley Cooper). Indeed, considering how he treats Peter, it's a wonder he even has any friends.
But after being dragged reluctantly to a seminar by the motivational speaker (Terrence Stamp) for a movement whose slogan is "Yes is the New No," Allen adopts their policy of saying Yes to everything. Allen's transformation is immediate and drastic. Overnight he becomes carefree, fun-loving and gregarious. It's not as though his redemption is inspired by the series of absurd events that follow. That would have perhaps required a degree of subtlety and depth on the part of the screenwriters and Carrey who instead are more interested in mining for dumb humour, of which there is plenty.
Inevitably there is a romantic thread. It involves Allen and the eccentric Allison (Zooey Deschanel), a singer in an art rock band at night and by day the leader of a group that combines jogging and photography. Stealing the movie is Rhys Darby as Norman, Allen's boss at the bank. Darby brings echoes of his hilarious role as the band's manager in Flight of the Conchords. But even his efforts can't save Yes Man from being dismissed as further proof that Carrey's once shining star has lost its luster.
Kevin Murphy
