Yes Man is the unofficial sequel to Jim Carrey’s 1997 comedy Liar Liar. Instead of being unable to lie, this time Carrey cannot say ‘no’ to any opportunity. You see, it’s all part of a new life enrichment program, which Carrey’s miserable character Carl reluctantly signs up to, thereafter living his life under the motto “yes is the new no”.  As soon as he does of course, good things start to happen. He gets the promotion at work, he restores his social life and he even gets the girl. By simply saying yes to everything, Carl’s life takes a dramatic turn for the best.

Now call me a cynic, but I’m not convinced. In the spirit of the film, I went out of my way to say ‘Yes’ to seeing Yes Man. But as it turns out, nothing good came of it.

I say it’s all a big scam; promising 90 minutes of classic Carrey comedy, the light-hearted and liberating premise of Yes Man does make for an attractive offer.  It partly delivers on the promise; Carrey is still an incredible physical comedian and the carefree ‘live life to the fullest’ mindset might just be what we need on the brink of an economic recession.

Yet these slimmers of comedic gold are few and far between and the energizing message is somewhat lost to the way that the entire film feels like a giant Warner Bros. advertisement. The opening scene sees Carrey sift through the titles at a Blockbuster Video by no accident stopping to select Warner produced/distributed DVD’s, holding them up  to the camera in a “Jim Carrey chooses to watch 300!” kind of way. It doesn’t end there; Carl’s boss (Rhys Darby of TV’s Flight of the Conchords) hosts costume parties, the theme being Warner Bros. titles such as Harry Potter and, once again, 300. Carrey even takes the time out to watch Saw on DVD in his apartment (which is actually LionsGate film, but you get the point). I am aware that most films these days feature product placement, but it’s never been this glaring and distracting. In a scene where a man was threatening suicide from a building ledge, I half expected The Dark Knight himself to make a cameo and save the day.

My problem with Yes Man doesn’t end there. The premise, which looks great on paper, wears incredibly thin well prior to 60 minute mark. This might have to do with screenwriters Nicholas Stoller and Jarrad Pull’s clunky treatment of the plot. It starts off in the right direction, but once Carl attends the ‘Yes man’ seminar, the film suddenly becomes a giant montage of mostly inconsequential events that have lead on from Carl saying ‘yes’ to things.  One minute he’s flying a plane, the next minute he’s got a Persian mail order bride; what results from either of these plot points is hardly worth their existence. It doesn’t help that script is the very definition of formulaic, so much so that you’ll be bored anticipating the next plot point twenty minutes in advance. If there were more than two standout scenes getting there, I might not have minded.

The lifeline of this film is unquestionably Jim Carrey. If anything, the film showcases his ability to turn a nothing script into something mildly worth watching. Helping Carrey keep the comedy alive is the geeky, yet endearing naivety of New Zealand comedian Rhys Darby as Norman, almost mirroring his character Murray from TV’s Flight of the Conchords.

Which brings me to Zooey Deschanel. I must admit I’ve never really taken to her. Not since Almost Famous have I truly liked, or even believed, her character; she portrays each of them with the same cutesy one-dimensional blankness. Her delivery always feels forced and ultimately her screen presence is nearly no-existent. By no means is her turn in Yes Man as bad as it was in The Happening (which, to be fair, was the case with everyone involved with that film), but she is still unable to convincingly embody the free-spirited nature of her character Allison.  Comparisons are begging to be drawn with Kate Winselt’s similar carefree character in Carrey’s best film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, who simply oozed charm and presence in every scene she was in.

Verdict:

Unintentionally, Yes Man is proof that reverse psychology works; No, it’s not worth seeing because, no, it’s not that funny.

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