Yes Man
| Year: | 2008 |
| Studio: | Village Roadshow Pictures |
| Director: | Peyton Reed |
| Producer: | Richard D Zanuck |
| Writer: | Nicholas Stoller/Jarrad Paul/Andrew Mogel |
| Cast: | Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel, Terence Stamp |
At one extreme we have Jim Carrey in the mould that made him a star - Liar, Liar, Bruce Almighty, etc. In another we have the Carrey that wants to be taken seriously as an actor, as he did in The Majestic and Man on the Moon.
This film isn't by any means one of the latter - in fact it's so similar to Bruce Almighty Carrey slips into it like stepping into a favourite old slipper. But whether it's his age or he was just slumming it for a paycheque, it doesn't have the manic energy that made his early comedy so impactful (rather than flat-out 'good'.
He plays a typical dweeb who's too lazy to do anything or make anything of his life, never answering his friends' phone calls, working a dead end job in a bank, etc.
You just know it's going to be either supernatural intervention or a motivational speaker. When old acquaintance drags Carl (Carrey) along to the roadshow of a rock star-like guru (Stamp), he decides to try the advice on offer - say 'yes' to everything so as not to miss out on any opportunities.
After giving a hobo a lift to the middle of nowhere, giving the guy his money and letting him run his phone right down, Carl meets a quirky and beautiful stranger (Deschanel) and becomes convinced he's doing the right thing.
Cue a million gags about doing stuff nobody in their right mind would no matter what the cost, followed by the inevitable moral lesson and redemption where he runs off into the proverbial sunset with the heroine.
There are flashes of very early Carrey humour, but little else, and a weak plot and string of gags holds it together.
This film isn't by any means one of the latter - in fact it's so similar to Bruce Almighty Carrey slips into it like stepping into a favourite old slipper. But whether it's his age or he was just slumming it for a paycheque, it doesn't have the manic energy that made his early comedy so impactful (rather than flat-out 'good'.
He plays a typical dweeb who's too lazy to do anything or make anything of his life, never answering his friends' phone calls, working a dead end job in a bank, etc.
You just know it's going to be either supernatural intervention or a motivational speaker. When old acquaintance drags Carl (Carrey) along to the roadshow of a rock star-like guru (Stamp), he decides to try the advice on offer - say 'yes' to everything so as not to miss out on any opportunities.
After giving a hobo a lift to the middle of nowhere, giving the guy his money and letting him run his phone right down, Carl meets a quirky and beautiful stranger (Deschanel) and becomes convinced he's doing the right thing.
Cue a million gags about doing stuff nobody in their right mind would no matter what the cost, followed by the inevitable moral lesson and redemption where he runs off into the proverbial sunset with the heroine.
There are flashes of very early Carrey humour, but little else, and a weak plot and string of gags holds it together.