Director: Peyton Reed (The Break Up)Cast: Jim Carrey (Brice Almighty, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events), Zooey Deschanel (Elf, Bridge to Terabithia), Bradley Cooper (Wedding Crashers), Rhys Darby (The Flight of the Conchords), Terence Stamp (Valkyrie, Smallville), Molly Sims (Las Vegas)
The Deal: Carl (Carrey) is depressed after his divorce with Stephanie (Sims). He has a boring job with a zany boss Norman (Darby), avoids his best friend Peter (Cooper), and spends all of his free time watching movies. As a means to get him to open up to new opportunities, he begins a self-help program created by Terrence Bundley (Stamp), in which the members are supposed to say "yes" to new situations. Carl interprets this incorrectly, and begins saying "yes" to every situation. This tactic lands him a romance in Allison (Deschanel), but saying "yes" to everything slowly spins his life out of control.
Thoughts: Jim Carrey's comedic style is usually the exact same in every film, and so over-the-top. Frankly, his act was getting fairly old. Sure, he had a few bright spots every once and a while, but I had given up on him. He shows me up with Yes Man, proving that he not only can still be funny, but that he no longer needs to dominate every scene he's in with needless humor. The story itself really lends itself to Carrey's comedic skill-set without it getting in the way of the film.
Zooey Deschanel really steals every scene she's in. She's always slightly shy and hugely adorable, but she never gets forgotten behind Carrey's acting, and I walk away liking her more and more every time I see her. Rhys Darby was absolutely fantastic in the film, providing what I felt was the funniest character by far. He was always slightly clueless and definitely dorky, but it worked so well. His theme parties were spectacular, and I couldn't stop laughing after Carl nicknamed him Norm, and he responded by nicknaming Carl "Car".
This isn't a film that will stand out too much in the long run. Its plot is decent and genuinely funny, the performances are solid, but it's not a dynamite comedy. Don't get me wrong though, it was enjoyable. Comedies these days have trended towards borderline dreadful with only one or two good ones every year. I wouldn't chalk this up as a classic gut-splitting film, but it's one that is entertaining, so ultimately it does succeed.
Verdict: A fairly funny comedy that doesn't drift into ridiculousness. Deschanel is adorable, and Carrey is surprisingly bearable. Well worth a rental for some good laughs. ☆☆☆1/2
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