Yes Man

I used to be a quite a big fan of Jim Carrey, and have seen most of his films. My enthusiasm has faded through the years though, maybe due to changing tastes due to age, or maybe I just felt I've seen everything he can do, more than once. In fact I wasn't even planning on seeing this film, but, for reasons that would be of no interest to anyone in particular, I did, and, was pleasantly surprised. Jim Carrey plays Carl Allen, a depressed loan officer in a bank who hasn't gotten over his wife leaving him, and who says "no" to every offer of social interaction, or anything else for that matter. A friend convinces him to attend a motivational meeting based on the concept of saying "yes" to life, and is convinced by the motivational group's leader to say "yes" to every opportunity that comes his way. Mr. Carrey proceeds to take this to the extreme, saying yes to virtually every offer presented to him, including learning Korean and making a bungee jump. Terence Stamp plays the group's leader and I guess it's hard to say no to General Zod. Although Mr. Carrey does some of his patented shtick here and there, he's much more subdued than in many of his comedies, as he lets the story take over. In spite of this, there are plenty of laughs mixed in with a good story and message. It even endorses the concept of making small loans to poorer individuals, an idea which has had some success in third world nations. When I first saw the trailer for this film I immediately figured it was just another version of Liar Liar, and there are some superficial similarities. This film is actually better, and, stands on its own, and, although I recommend the film, no, I will not say, say yes, to Yes Man.

Rating - 3 Stars