Reviews & Previews - Yes Man

Posted on Monday, December 29, 2008 at 05:00 PM

Yes Man

By: S. Tran

Starring: Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel, Bradley Cooper
Directed By: Peyton Reed
Running Time: 104 minutes
Rated: PG-13

Yes, It's Jim Carrey

When Jim Carrey does a comedy, you can count on one thing and that is that you know what you're going to get. With the rubbery face and the over the top slapstick Carrey knows that he's going to have his best success when he taps into the comedic well that he has perfected. With Yes Man we get the Jim Carrey we're used to seeing.

In addition to the usual wacky antics though the movie also seems to unapologetically rehash the same basic story line we saw in Liar, Liar from 1997. In that movie Carrey was forced to stop lying and only tell the truth. This led to crazy adventures but in the end he finds that telling the truth makes his life better. In the current film Carrey's character is forced to begin saying yes to every opportunity and request presented to him and in doing so has crazy adventures and finds that his life is improved. I actually thought this was going to be a sequel of sorts to Liar Liar but it turns out the two movies have nothing in common.

While Carrey hasn't evolved much as a comedic actor it is nice to see that he has toned down some of the physical tics he has relied on in the past. I think this approach to the material works better as it lets the comedy flow more naturally from the scene. A great example of this is when Carrey breaks into song to try and keep a man from jumping from a building. The scene works because he doesn't try to force the humor by going over the top.

He is supported by a good cast which includes Deschanel as his love interest Allison and Cooper as his best friend Peter. They are good actors who support Carrey's star turn but also add to the movie. Both are likeable and the characters they play are a little more rounded than what we're used to seeing in these kinds of movies where the supporting cast is usually just window dressing.

You're not going to be surprised by anything with this film. It's going to be another Jim Carrey movie that will be lumped into a big pile with his other comedies after his career is over. However, it does provide some good laughs and is better than the average Hollywood comedy.

3 and a half out of 5 stars.