DVD Insight: Yes Man
Carl Allen has stumbled across a way to shake free of post-divorce blues and a dead-end job: embrace life and say yes to everything. Working every funny bone in his nimble body and every muscle in his hilariously mobile face, Jim Carrey plays Carl in a YEScapade about opening up to lifes possibilities especially when those possibilities include romance with an intriguing, free-spirited musician (Zooey Deschanel). From the director of The Break-Up comes an invitation to discover the comedy power of yes.
Title – Yes Man
Release Date – April 7th, 2009
Formats – Own it on Blu-Ray, DVD, and On Demand
Review -
Right now Jim Carrey seems like an anomaly in movies. His style of physical comedy isn’t current by any means, and America has spoken with their wallets and said they’d rather see him do slapstick instead of meaningful dramatic films. Carrey is stuck between doing the goofy stuff he’s famous for and wanting to be taken more seriously as an actor. I think Jim Carrey is one of the most undervalued dramatic actors in Hollywood and it pains me every time I see him do a film like ‘Fun with Dick and Jane’. Thankfully even though it’s a return to his older comedic tricks, ‘Yes Man’ rises just above forgettable and is actually an enjoyable movie.
The premise of ‘Yes Man’ is closest to Jim Carrey’s previous film, ‘Liar Liar.’ In ‘Yes Man’ Carrey plays Carl Allen, a man who says no to life. Carl lives life sheltered in his own world of trying to avoid neighbors, co-workers, and friends. Carl prefers renting DVDs to spending time with his friends (he clearly has a habit of making bad decisions since he still rents movies from Blockbuster). Carl’s friends Peter (Bradley Cooper) and Rooney (Danny Masterson) hound him relentlessly to break free and live a little, but he prefers to be alone and live the routines he’s created for himself.
One day at work, eating lunch alone (as usual) Carl runs into Nick (John Michael Higgins) an old friend who’s obviously achieved more in his life than Carl. Nick is carefree, fun and spontaneous as opposed to Carl’s daily monotony. Nick is sure that Carl is a “No Man”- someone who says “no” to life and turns down any new experiences. Realizing Nick might be right, Carl takes his advice and attends a seminar that changes his life and makes him realize that saying “yes” might just be the best thing he can do. Through saying “yes” to life, Carl opens himself up to new people and new experiences that he never could have had by remaining in the confines of his safety zone. Saying “yes” becomes a tug-of-war with karma, the more he says yes the more good things will happen to him. This of course this leads to many comedic moments. Even though ‘Yes Man’ is one of the better comedic ventures from Carrey in quite a while, there are times when the purpose of the film seems to be to put Jim Carrey into one absurd situation after another.
I have only two outright problems with this film and the problems are minor ones. The first is that this is another movie guilty of including a lot of footage in the trailer that doesn’t turn out in the finale theatrical cut of the film. It’s a minor issue but it does leave you expecting to see one thing and you get another. The second is the casting choice of Danny Masterson as one of Carl’s friends. There’s no reason for Masterson to be in this movie. Unlike Peter (Bradley Cooper), Danny Masterson has no chemistry with Carrey, and he seems to have no real purpose on-screen except to fill out Carl’s group of friends. He also plays the same character he always plays and it just seems very out of place. I’d have preferred less of Masterson and more exposition on the relationship between Carl and Peter.
Overall, the main performances by the core cast of ‘Yes Man’ were surprisingly funny, more so than I actually suspected they would be. Carl’s love interest Allison, played by the always-charming Zooey Deschanel, does what she does best: play the flighty, artsy, spontaneous woman that Carl isn’t used to but finds fascinating. As much as I thoroughly enjoy Deschanel and feel that she is good at playing this type of role, I’d love to see her play a different type of character. Zooey Deschanel also does some really entertaining synth-pop songs on the soundtrack and I hope to see more music like this in the future form her. The most underrated performance in the film comes from Rhys Darby who plays Carl’s boss Norman. Rhys who some might recognize from ‘Flight of the Concords’ as Murray, continues to be hilarious in an awkward character.
‘Yes Man’ is nowhere near the funniest film of the year, but it does have some very funny moments and is overall a very enjoyable film. Jim Carrey doesn’t do anything new in this film to further his comedic talents, but it is a showcase for him doing what made him famous. The cast is very likeable and the character of Carl is someone you root for and want to see come out of his shell and become a happier person. The blossoming relationship between Carl and Allison is cute and endearing and it’s fun to see how two people of natural opposites can come together. Though it does have some rough spots, ‘Yes Man’ works. I was never bored while watching it, and it does have some insightful life lessons about opening yourself up to life’s new experiences. More importantly it proves Jim Carrey still can be the funny man we all remember him to be, and the more dramatic moments of the film give us a glimpse of the actor we know is capable of much more.
(this review was reposted from Dan Hacker’s original review of the film on our site during it’s theatrical release)
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