Yes Man

Director: Peyton Reed
Screenwriters: Nicolas Stoller, Jarrad Paul, Andrew Mogel
Starring: Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel, Bradley Cooper, Rhys Darby, Terence Stamp
Running Time: 104 mins
Certificate: 12A

In a career that's touched bases with zany slapstick (Dumb And Dumber), gimmicky high concept comedy (Bruce Almighty), quirky science fiction (Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind) and ambitious satire (The Truman Show), Jim Carrey has proved that there's substantial acting talent beyond his madcap physicality. Sadly, Yes Man isn't so much a role progression for Carrey, more a leap back into safe waters. Though the movie doesn't see anything as extreme as him yodelling through his backside a la Ace Ventura, it bears more than a passing resemblance to his early hit Liar Liar.

Based on Danny Wallace's bestseller, Yes Man tracks the reclusive Carl Allen (Carrey) as he joins a Terence Stamp-led cult that requires him to answer every question, request and proposition in the affirmative. Still reeling from a divorce, Carl gradually begins to take hold of life again using the power of "yes". Aiming to illicit a similar response from its audience, Yes Man's inspirational message lacks conviction on account of its half-realised execution.

Director Peyton Reed, who in the past has brought interesting slants to established genres (the breezy Rock Hudson/Doris Day homage Down With Love being an example), holds Carrey on a tight leash for the opening section of the film then abruptly chooses to ditch myopic Carl to suit Carrey's patented brand of screen lunacy. Within minutes of leaving his first Yes Man seminar, Carl is giving lifts to tramps and kissing kooky rock chick Allison (Deschanel). Later, he distorts his face by wrapping it tightly in sticky tape and bungee jumps off a bridge. Narrative fluency plays second fiddle to a collection of skits showing Carrey cutting loose.

The actor's manic energy of old hasn't dimmed, though. Agreeing to sexual relief from his OAP neighbour, a penis enlargement email, a Persian mail order bride and a Red Bull-fuelled rave provide him with enough rope to keep chuckles flowing. Deschanel makes the most of a decorative role - her free spirit and songstress skills (she fronts band-within-the-film Munchausen By Proxy) make it easy to see why Carl falls for her, even if their age difference makes them an awkward couple.

The best thing about the film is Rhys Darby (recycling his hapless Flight Of The Conchords character with added Harry Potter obsession) as Carl's boss-from-hell Norman. Reed utilises Darby as a comedy hand grenade, liberally detonating him to offer contrast to Carrey's gurning. Norman's calamitous meeting with his superior, where his social faux pas results in his inadvertently suggesting a painful sexual practice, perfectly melds the creepiness of David Brent and the complete lack of self-awareness that plagues his US counterpart Michael Scott.

At 104 minutes, Yes Man is perhaps a little too long for this type of one-trick comedy, yet perversely feels ramshackle and unfinished with the film's conceit stretching thin quickly. Yes Man doesn't house anything as uproariously funny as its thematic companion Liar Liar's manic courtroom scenes and too often relies on broad character strokes and gooey sentiment. That said it's a decent enough time-killer for Carrey fans and those after something light and non-taxing after a heavy Christmas Day feast.


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