Yes Man

This poster is infinitely better than any of the 3rd North American ones. Germany knows how to get 'er done.

When I first heard about this movie, it felt like you could hear something like somebody scratching inside of a hollow wooden cylinder. In premise, it sounds a LOT like Liar, Liar, Jim Carrey's 1997 film about a man who, because of his son's birthday wish, loses the ability to lie. In THIS movie, he plays a man (Carl Allen) who, due to a general apathy toward life, is coaxed into attending a seminar which challenges him to say "yes" to every possibility that comes his way. This leads to all manner of ridiculous situations, allowing Carrey to respond manically to his circumstances.

While the premise allows for some quite funny encounters, the movie insists on tying it all in with a purpose. Nearly everything that Carl is prompted to do ends up having some kind of outlandishly positive impact on those around him. For instance, because he ended up taking the suggestions of a notice board and takes lessons in guitar (where he learns Third Eye Blind's "Jumper") and Korean, he is able to problem-solve his way through a disagreement with a Korean store clerk minutes before serenading a man with suicidal inclinations by singing to him. If you can roll your eyes back forward, however, there is some enjoyment to be had.

Oddly enough, the best scenes are the ones that are the least outlandish. The contrivance of the aforementioned scene is coupled with its fundamental unfunniness. It's silly, sure, but not so much with the funny. Instead, the best parts of Yes Man come when people are just talking to each other, being charming. When Carl is sitting around with his buddies, Peter (Bradley Cooper in the only role I've seen him in where he's not a douche who hates his marriage) and Rooney (Danny Masterson, who I was glad to see is still doing stuff), they banter in a near-Judd Apatow kind of man-talk. The other more-funny-when-you-stop-trying dialogue happens when Carl first meets and begins courting Allison (Zooey Deschanel). Their initial romancing is sweet, honest, with clever enough dialogue to make you gush a little. In fact, there aren't many things cuter than watching Carl and Allison sing "Can't Buy Me Love" in the Hollywood Bowl.

Oh, and while I've been knocking most of the forced funny, there is one character whose unbelievably eccentric personality makes you want to hug him. Norman (played by Rhys Darby, who, at first, I was like "Wow, this guy really reminds me of Murray from Flight Of The Conchords. But nah, I wouldn't want to be offensive and assume that every New Zealander is the same guy," but as it turns out, it is actually Murray) is the kind of guy who is true to himself, remaining 95% naivete about how unpopular and sociall awkward he really is. Throw in the New Zealand accent, and you've got a pretty lovable character.

Everything's going okay until the inevitable she-found-out-about-this-plan-and-now-she's-mad pseudo-break-up. From that point on, the movie falls to shambles and is supported only by cliche dialogue and an allegedly funny shot of Carrey's bum. It's really a shame that it falls apart as much as it does.

When people talk about this movie, they're mostly going to be talking about the BIG scenes, where the most ridiculous situations play out. Those scenes are like that friend who's actually really funny but when he's put in a new social situation, he gets really loud and obnoxious because he's trying so hard to be liked. Yes Man just needs to chill out, and do what comes naturally, rather than worrying so much about creating the kinds of scenes that will create buzz when someone puts them up on Youtube.

Rating: 3.0 stars