Yes Man

Yes, Yes Man is derivative of earlier Jim Carrey movies, but what does that mean exactly? Isn't that what comedians do? Has Adam Sandler ever made a movie that was derived from an early Adam Sandler movie? Isn't Knocked Up an off shoot of The 40yr Old Virgin? That is what comedy is. Someone, usually an actor, finds something they are good at and they mine that to create a string of movies. Every Will Ferrell movie is essentially the same thing, right? The results typically depend on the energy of the performer and whether or not one likes that particular performer. I love Jim Carrey. Liar, Liar is one of my all time favorite comedies and Carrey's physical comedy prowess is unrivaled by anyone else in movies. The problem is, comedies do not look like the Jim Carrey 1990s comedies anymore. The entire landscape has changed and Carrey's career has gone to another place, a sort of movie limbo. Yes Man looked like an attempt for Carrey to go back to the well and one has to wonder if that well was dry this time or was there just enough left for Carrey to make something funny.

The trailers are a bit misleading, because Carl Allen(Carrey) probably has not been saying no his life. It is not said for sure, but it is implied that 3 years earlier when his wife left him, Carl changed. If he was as miserable his life as he is when we meet him, I doubt he would have had friends at all. As is, his friends are fed up with him. He is a loan officer and spends his nights alone with a bunch of movies. He won't answer his phone and makes excuses for everything. He misses all of the big events in his friends lives and even has a nightmare about the day he dies and how no one will care. That is just who Carl is when we meet him. Then he goes to a YES seminar. At first, he thinks everyone is crazy, but Carl is willing to try the idea of saying yes to everything. On the first night, he gives a homeless person a ride and all of his cash. He runs out of gas and has a run-in with an absolutely adorable young lady, Allison(Zooey Deschnal). Carl likes where this is headed and starts saying yes to everything. The first time he says no, he falls down some stairs and almost gets mauled by a dog, so he realizes he has to say yes to everything. He learns to fly a plane, play guitar, speak Korean, and at work he says yes to every person who wants a loan. These events help change his life. Carl is living life instead of watching it pass him by. He runs into Allison again, and they start a relationship, something Carl never would have done before.

After over an hour of not having a real conflict, it becomes obvious that Yes Man is that kind of movie where the conflict, climax and resolution are all going to come in the final 15 minutes, which is how romantic comedies typically go, especially the ones where people are keeping secrets from each other. It can be frustrating, and it is somewhat here as well, but until that time, Yes Man offered enough laughs to forgive the lack of conflict. Carrey wears Carl like a comfortable old robe, and in turn we are warmed by the familiarity of it all. We know Carry has done this a million times before, but we always liked when he did it before, so why would now be any different? His rubber face gets some nice use, but over the last few years Carrey has also become a much better actor and I think that makes the climax and resolution a lot stronger. The final confrontation has an actual emotional resonance and I have watched that final scene more than a few times now. The comedy is broad and will take you back to a time when comedies were not so verbal and more visual. I like where comedy is today, but I really enjoyed watching Jim Carrey do his Jim Carrey thing, here.

Zooey Deschenal with her big expressive blue eyes is adorable beyond belief and while the age difference is a bit annoying, I really believed her and believed she could fall for Carl. Allison is a total movie woman. She does things that people in real life do not do. She is a musician (the scene of her song is hilarious), a painter and a photographer, but she teaches a class in taking pictures while jogging. Why? Because it is totally adorable that she does these things. She could not exist in real life, because in real life, someone could not make money trying to teach a class in how to take blurry pictures, but in the movies, it is perfectly acceptable and an adorable movie girl thing to do. Allison is a free spirit who is up for anything without the need for the Yes seminar, but she feels grounded, for the most part. Carl's friends are also movie people, but it works. Danny Masterson shows up as the friend totally taking advantage of Carl's need to say yes and Bradley Cooper(With his looks how is he not a star yet?) is the friend who has Carl's best interests at heart and he and Carrey have a very nice moment towards the end of the film. Then there is Carl's boss, Norman. Norman is a total dork, but is hilarious and gets a lot of the comedy. The scene where Norman and Carl exchange funny faces reminded me just how good Jim Carrey can be.

The last thing I want to mention about Yes Man has to do with a song and that song is the epic "Separate Ways(Worlds apart)" by Journey. Carl has it as his ringtone and the keyboard sounds pretty cool coming out of the phone, but the movie is not finished with the song. The climax finds Carrey zipping around Los Angeles in a sick motorcycle and this song is blaring through the whole scene. Each revving of the bike is right in tune with the song and the epic feeling of the song, adds to the epic feeling of the scene. The scene is funny and thrilling, but this song gives it something extra. Music can often add something to a scene or a movie, but this song almost makes the movie better, just with how perfectly it is placed. Yes, the lyrics make sense, too, but that is not the point. I wanted to cheer as soon as the song started up at exactly the perfect moment. It really is a fantastic moment and it still makes me smile when I go up and watch it.

Final Grade: B-