Movie Rental Review: Yes Man

            I had only heard about this movie, and did not remember anything really about it, before watching the video.

            It stars Jim Carrey, and this was his first real comedy role in quite some time, perhaps since Bruce Almighty. It was the funniest and craziest he has been since Me, Myself, and Irene. Yet, it is not all that crazy, and he seems to have lost something from his earlier years. Maybe a certain reckless abandon that he once possessed and made him what he was, but is no longer.

            He plays the part of Carl, a man down on his luck. A girlfriend that he really loved dumped him for another man a few years back, and he has never been the same. Essentially, playing the pity party. He does not feel like going out or doing anything anymore, and just stays home, moping around.

            Some friends begin to notice and express concern for him. One of them convinces him to attend a “Yes” seminar, which amounts to a self-help kind of session. The premise is that you have to say yes to any and all opportunities come your way, no matter what they are.

            So Carl, who is conservative, and lives an organized life, rarely taking chances, now has to live an entirely different lifestyle.

            He is skeptical at first. But eventually, he begins to see it pay dividends, particularly when he meets a beautiful young, exciting woman, Allison, who seems very compatible in an unconventional sense, and adds a lot of spice to his life. He becomes convinced that the “Yes” program is working.

            Suddenly, he finds greater happiness than he ever felt before, and feels that he is truly living. His life in unrecognizable from what it was before, and now he feels like a new man.

            Of course, it does not last. Things fall apart before too long, and he has to piece everything back together again.

I had only vaguely heard about this movie, but recently, the opportunity to watch it presented itself.

For a long time, I felt that Jim Carrey had lost his comedic edge. He was decent in Bruce Almighty, but did not show the same carefree, reckless abandonment approach towards his comedy that he had in his earlier days, with movies like the Pet Detective Series, or Mark, or Dumb and Dumber.

Zooey Deschanel is very good, and cute in the role of Allison. She does a good job, and certainly holds her own in this role, across from the superstar Jim Carrey.

He does not show it so much in this movie, either, but there are traces. He does not let loose like he did in the old days, and yet, there are some really funny parts to this movie, and Carrey nonetheless delivers, albeit in a more subdued manner. Still, it is a good time, and I would recommend this, if you enjoy comedy.