‘Yes Man’ is Classic Carrey
-----I saw ‘Yes Man’ from a casual viewpoint. When you go into a movie that’s trying to be a simple, yet fun comedy, you should look for just that. ‘Yes Man’ delivers on the promise to be a fun alternate take on Carrey’s previous film ‘Liar Liar.’ Whenever the film stumbles on poor scripting or unnecessary gross-out-gags, Carrey’s enthusiasm is there to bring it back home.
-----The plot is as presented, a man who always says no has become a hermit crab in his apartment. His friends are frustrated and concerned, but since his divorce, Carl Allen (Carrey) has been depressed and ultimately wary of committing to anything. When an old friend tells Carl to go to a convention where he can learn to say yes, Carl reluctantly goes. After being yelled at by about thousands of fellow ‘Yes People’ every time he says ‘no,’ Carl takes the challenge to always answer ‘yes’ for a whole year.
-----Carrey is enthusiastic and charismatic, saving many of the films lesser points. There are a considerable amount of laughs, but a certain grotesque scene I don’t even want to talk about threatened to sicken me to the point of giving up on the film. The scene, which will be apparent to anyone who watches the movie, is unnecessary and revolting. However, there is a classic comedic moment where Carrey tries to stop a man from committing suicide. Zooey Deschanel gives a performance with an air of authenticity as oddball love interest Allison. It seems like the older comedians get, the younger their costars get. Just an observation though, and the romance is adequately believable.
-----While I enjoyed ‘Yes Man’ with the exception of one scene, I felt like a few of the subplots were left unresolved, or rather unsatisfying in their conclusion. As soon as I got up I had a feeling the film may not be good for multiple viewings, and yet I had mostly positive feelings during the film. This is one of those films that’s right on the line from a see it/rent it rating. I try to be positive towards the medium I love so much, but I think this one is short a couple big laughs from being the film it could have been. It's all I can do to avoid letting that one terrible, terrible scene ruin the movie for me. I think most Carrey fans will be pleased and most movie fans will get about what they expected. All in all it’s good to see Carrey back to doing what he does best, playing lovable losers. It’s not an epic comedyn and may be ultimately forgettable, but it is enjoyable enough to constitute at least one viewing for fans of Carrey...except for that one terrible, terrible scene.
