Sign in or 
Share this
Yes Man (2008)
Information:
 | Release Date: December 19, 2008 |
| Studio: Walt Disney Pictures | |
| Director: Peyton Reed | |
| Genre: Comedy | |
| Starring: Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel, Bradley Cooper, Rhys Darby, John Michael Higgins, Danny Masterson, Terence Stamp | |
| MPAA Rating: PG+13 (for crude sexual humor, language and brief nudity) | |
| Plot Summary: Jim Carrey stars as Carl Allen, a guy whose life is going nowhere—the operative word being "no"—until he signs up for a self-help program based on one simple covenant: say yes to everything...and anything. Unleashing the power of "YES" begins to transform Carl's life in amazing and unexpected ways, getting him promoted at work and opening the door to a new romance. But his willingness to embrace every opportunity might just become too much of a good thing. |
Trailer:
Review:
Received From 411mania.com
The film stars Carrey as Carl Allen, a loan officer who is very well-acquainted with the word “no.” Pity the poor person who’s applied for a loan from him; having been dumped by his girlfriend three years ago, Carl has rejected every offer, proposition, request, question and notion that comes his way. When his friend Nick (Michael Higgins) gets him to come along to a self-help seminar, he runs afoul of the seminar’s head, Terrance Bundley (Stamp). Terrance preaches about the power of the word “yes,” and manages to talk Carl into a pact where he says yes to everything that comes his way. After several mishaps with this, he meets Allison (Deschanel). Allison is a bohemian type, very much Carl’s opposite, who conducts photo-jogging classes and sings in a rock band. Of course, the two hit it off and Allison’s free spirit finds plenty of opportunities for Carl to say yes, except one.
Yes Man is scripted by Jarrad Paul, Andrew Mogel and Nicholas Stoller, the latter of whom wrote Carrey’s last comedy, the mediocre Fun With Dick and Jane. With Paul and Mogel alongside him, Stoller seems to know how to write for Carrey better this time around; Yes Man is a more broad comedy. Taking Danny Wallace’s 2005 biography of the same title and adapting it to fit Carrey’s style, the trio create a story that focuses on making the characters more significant than the concept would imply. Yes, there are certainly a lot of gags around the gimmick of the film, and some are quite funny while some—such as a proposition regarding Carl’s elderly neighbor that seems culled straight out of Kingpin—are not. The trio keeps things moving along at a brisk pace, and while this is (much like the trailers suggest) almost a sequel to Carrey’s Liar Liar, it carries enough of its own individuality that it never seems lost in the 1997 movie's shadow. There are several moments where the film starts to weaken, notably when the script gets lost in the gimmick, and the three have a long way to go before they’ll be considered sharp writers. Their work here is simply adequate, not spectacular. Where the script falls down, director Peyton Reed steps in to pick it back up. Reed has a lot of experience with romantic comedies, including taking the director’s chair for 2003’s Down With Love and the Jennifer Aniston/Vince Vaughn rom-com The Break-Up. He uses that experience well here, taking cues from what he’s learned on those movies to keep this one as buoyant and light as it can be. Reed is a decent director who knows how to get what he wants out of his movies, and while what he wants may not always be everyone’s idea of a good film, it works here for most of the movie. Reed also takes the smart path of setting his scenes in some of the lesser-filmed areas of Los Angeles such as Griffith Park, making the famously-known town feel a bit fresher than it otherwise would have.
Of course, the movie is more of a Jim Carrey vehicle then a Peyton Reed film, for better or worse. Carrey, following several films that have departed from slapstick, weird-face roles of his early career, goes back to the well in an attempt to make us forget his last live-action film, last year’s horrendous thriller The Number 23. Does it work? For the most part, yes. Carrey gives what is his best comedic performance since Bruce Almighty, a job that isn’t as full-out zanily manic as his earlier work and yet works to his benefit. Sure, Carrey spends plenty of time in goofy situations as he distorts his face with tape and rides a motorcycle through downtown L.A. with not much on, but he also reins himself in as well. Carl feels less like Ace Ventura then he does Bruce Nolan or Truman Burbank, which now in Carrey’s later years is very much a good thing.
It certainly helps that Carrey’s got some very good chemistry with Zooey Deschanel. Deschanel is recovering from a flop of her own, only hers is the more recent The Happening. Here she reminds us that in fact she is capable of expressing emotion, and she and Carrey are able to conjure the kind of sparks between each other that makes this movie work as a romantic comedy as much as it does a slapstick high-concept farce. Deschanel seems to be the poster girl and go-to gal for the quirky, offbeat roles, and there is a lot of that present here; Allison brings to mind past roles such as Elf’s Jovie without a doubt. This isn’t a bad thing in a movie such as this, and she brings enough to the role to make it largely distinct from her past work. Interestingly enough, the funniest performance doesn’t come from the comically-gifted Carrey or the quirkiness of Deschanel; it comes from Rhys Darby. Darby, a New Zealander giving his first Hollywood film performance, is spot-on and hilarious as Carl’s nerdy boss Norman. Terrance Stamp gives another thoroughly solid performance as self-help guru Bundley, another good expansion into his ever-growing comedy repertoire.
Clearly, Yes Man is far from a perfect film or even a great one. The script does wander into the gags too often, and the transition from farce to romantic comedy isn’t handled with the finesse it could have been. For those who have tired of Carrey acting like a goof, this will almost certainly fall flat, and the jokes around the farce side seem played out by the end. Ultimately it’s the dynamic between the stars that carries it through to the conclusion.
monkeywhistle123 |
Latest page update: made by monkeywhistle123
, Dec 26 2008, 6:28 PM EST
(about this update
About This Update
Edited by monkeywhistle123
1 word added 1 word deleted view changes - complete history) |
|
More Info: links to this page
|
There are no threads for this page.
Be the first to start a new thread.
