Yes Man
The title at first made me think this movie might be a political satire about an underling prepared to go with anything his boss decided. Even after seeing the actual movie, I still say it’d be a great idea for a movie.
Not that Peyton Reed- the man behind the camera on such comedies as “Bring It On,” “Down With Love,” and “The Break-Up”- has wasted the title of trash, though. Jim Carrey stars as Carl Allen, a man who’s been working as a lone officer for several years, and who’s had a rough time getting over his ex-wife after she left him three years ago. He’s afraid of trying anything new in life or committing to anything, and his best friends (played Bradley Cooper and Danny Masterson) are sick of it, especially after Carl forgets Cooper’s engagement party.
One day, he has a chance encounter with an old friend (consumate scene stealer John Michael Higgins), who gets him to a seminar by self-help guru Terrence Bundley (the hilariously Zen Terence Stamp) who preaches a life of “Yes” instead of “No.” Carl leaves a changed man, though he’s hesitant at first. But after some initial setbacks in a “Yes” philosophy lead to some unexpected rewards- namely, him meeting free spirit Allison (Zooey Deschanel) and, well, if you’ve seen the previews (or any other high-concept movie like this), you pretty much can figure it out from there.
Confession- I never much cared for the Jim Carrey of “Ace Ventura” or “Dumb & Dumber.” That type of broad comedy didn’t really stick for me. I did love “The Mask,” but despite Carrey’s CG-aided rubber face comedy routine, that was also the first film that showed us Carrey the Everyman when he didn’t have the mask on. This side would continue to appeal to me in later Carrey films (including “The Truman Show,” “Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind,” and even the unfairly lampooned “The Majestic”), even when his bold and broad comedy would bring in the bigger bucks (“The Grinch” anyone?). Later attempts to marry both sides of Carrey would either result in brilliance (the Andy Kaufman biopic “Man on the Moon”), bombs (“Me Myself & Irene”), or unexpected pleasures (“Bruce Almighty,” “Liar Liar”), but that said, the everyday Carrey always resonated strongest with me.
(Maybe it’s just me, but that might be why “The Cable Guy” didn’t really work for a lot of people. Was anyone really wanting to see a mean-spirited or unsympathetic Jim Carrey? I do still want to see the film again to find out what 12 years have done to my opinion, but food for thought there.)
It’s that side of Carrey that’s front-and-center in “Yes Man,” so if the movie tempers his manic side, it’s by design. Based on the book by Daniel Wallace, “Yes Man” allows for some of the typical rubber-face comedy from Carrey, but it’s at the service of a character who’s just starting to live life. That makes the film less-funny than we might hope from Carrey, but I love this side of him. He’s continuing to turn himself into a leading man for the ages without losing what makes him unique.
It helps that he’s paired with someone like Deschanel, a long-time second banana (“The Good Girl,” “Failure to Launch”) who’s starting to find herself front-in-center in movies like “The Happening,” “Elf,” and “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” M. Night Shyamalan didn’t use her well (at all) in “The Happening,” but this film does. She’s an independent and fiesty personality- the best kind of personality in a woman if you ask me- and the roles that dig into that are the ones she shines in. No exception here. The reason such a woman appeals to me, both onscreen and off? There’s a level of common sense to them that us guys need to get knocked on the head with when we get stupid, and instead of getting mean about it, it just sort of absorbs itself into their overall personality. This is Allison in this movie, whom Deschanel plays with undeniable cuteness and sharp intelligence that is completely endearing. (And I’m not just saying this because she looks hot in a Hogwarts school uniform. You’ll have to see the film to see for yourself. 🙂 ) Reed lets her and Carrey bring the movie home, and the result is a holiday treat.
