Phillyist Reviews... Yes Man

If Jim Carrey would stop being a caricature of himself then maybe it would be a little easier to enjoy his films. He shines in his non-comedic stuff (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Truman Show), but his comic performances are so over the top and deliberate that sometimes the overacting is difficult to get past. Though even if he were able to take it down a notch, this movie still would have some problems.

Many people are calling the film a do-over of Liar, Liar (in which Jim Carrey is a lawyer who is forbidden from telling a lie) because in this movie, Carrey's grouchy character attends a self-help program that teaches its disciples to say "Yes" to everything they encounter in life. He takes the guru up on the challenge and does agree to everything put in his path—including bungee jumping and penile enhancement drugs.

Silly gags aside, the real problem with the movie is plot. The bones of the story are there: man is miserable, man tries to change his life, man meets chickie, man scores chickie, man's life is good. But most of the movie is a mish-mash of silly comedy (Jim Carrey doing a bump of hot sauce, Jim Carrey's ass hanging out of the back of a hospital gown, Jim Carrey involved in an icky sex scene with his elderly neighbor) and lacks a real story. An unsucessful attempt at plot was rooted in a storyline revolving around him getting promoted as a result of saying "Yes," but overall it seems like this script was made from the let's-throw-a-bunch-of-stuff-up-there-and-see-what-sticks method of screenwriting. (Hmm, I wonder why Syd Field never included that method in any of his books.)

One of the best things about the movie was Zooey Deschanel as Carrey's love interest. Not only is she genuinely adorable, that girl can sing and does it well in her role in the movie as lead singer of a band called "Munchausen By Proxy" (the rest of the fake band is made up of members of the real band Von Iva).

Even with the movie's faults, it's pretty darn difficult to resist leaving the theater feeling good. Saying "Yes" to life is a concept that was mainly used as a vehicle to facilitate some lowbrow humor in the movie. But if you take a moment to think about it, it really is an interesting concept to consider implementing, at least in part, in your own life. My favorite part about the movie (besides Zooey, obviously) was watching Carrey's character, who started off being practically allergic to social interaction, agree to and eventually embrace many and varied things outside of his comfort zone. That's something all of us could benefit from.

Image via About.com