Before anyone starts snickering at this criminal lapse in taste, I have been through a bit of a crisis and in my defence just wanted to watch something mindless and funny. Yes Man, based on Danny Wallace's hilarious book and true account of saying 'yes' to everything following depression after a relationship breaks down, would seem to fit the bill with its outlandish plot and optimistic theme. Or so I thought. Hmm. Jim Carrey plays Carl (based on Danny), with ever quirky it girl Zooey Deschanel as his love interest. His marriage has broken down and he's in a slump, staying in every night and refusing to engage in life. After being dragged to a seminar extolling the virtues of 'Yes', led by a frightening Terence Stamp, Carl takes 'yes' to as many conclusions as possible.
The premise and source material for this is pretty good stuff (although I bet Dave Gorman is mightily pissed off that his kind of weird quests have been co-opted to secure much greater financial reward by his best mate), so it's a shame that the movie doesn't work as a comedy. The book is genuinely funny, so how could things have gone so very badly wrong?! Part of the blame lies with the casting of Carrey, who is just so much older than the rest of the cast that he looks completely out of place, as well as being extremely annoying. His rubber faced gurning belongs to the 90s and Ace Ventura and it's this which - unfortunately - he falls back on here. He can do dark and emotional (see: The Truman Show, Eternal Sunshine), so it's frustrating that he doesn't give a more sophisticated performance here. Not that the film relies upon dark or emotional (or indeed sophisticated), but Carrey has range which seems to have been abandoned at the set door for Yes Man, favouring a lazy comedy-by-numbers approach. The rest of the cast seem almost embarrassed to be involved in the movie and the only highlights come from the fantastic Rhys Darby (Flight of the Conchords) as Norman, Carl's fellow bank worker, and the aforementioned Ms Deschanel who takes kooky to whole new levels here. It is with Darby the laughs are garnered and through Deschanel that the charming romantic aspects of the story actually overtakes the comedic, to save the film from its dire script and terrible central casting.
Danny Wallace was obviously on board for this travesty, as he appears in a cameo at the end of the film, but it's hard to see why. This movie could have been so much better with someone like the ubiquitous Seth Rogen or adorable John Cusack as Carl. Rogen fits the age criteria and has the slacker factor, Cusack would have brought with him the mainstream likeability factor (sadly Carrey's casting must have been to bring this and draw in the punters - doh). My respect for Danny Wallace has totally diminished after watching this movie - he clearly saw it as a way to make a quick buck. Either that or is still saying 'yes' to any offer he is made. Will he never learn?!
Thanks for the review it was really helpful to me.
anyways I'm putting up the trailer of the movie.
check it out and let me know what your favourite scene of the movie is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNEoCQEZSR4
Posted by: sandeep | May 12, 2009 at 10:25 AM