Yes Man | Eastern North Carolina Now

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The Return of Jim Carrey to Comedy ...

    Is a huge success on the "laughometer." And just what is the "laughometer?" The short answer: it is an internal mechanism that counts how many times I lose my breath from laughing so hard. During "Yes Man," I recalled five occasions, or was it six, that registered fully on the "laughometer." A point of reference in what constitutes making the upper range of this device is: laughing to the point of tears gushing from my eyes and then my nose will register a two, laughing to the point of a mild heart attack will register an automatic three, no questions asked.

    The unique factor is that I wasn't expecting that much. Jim Carrey's most recent motion picture, excepting his voice in "Horton Hears a Who," was "The Number 23." Unlike "Horton Hears a Who," which was a better than the regular animated film, "The Number 23" was a mess.

    No such problem with "Yes Man." Director Peyton Reed took some great material from the screenplay by committee; Nicholas Stoller, Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel, who adopted their written words from Danny Wallace's book, and made a funny film that had a message - with no formulaic residue.

    The story of "Yes Man" is so emblematic of the times that we live in. The economy is in the toilet, and with unemployment around 9%, people are fairly negative to say the least. One would have quite a pampered life if they did not, on occasion, feel a bit negative. Carl Allen, portrayed by Jim Carrey at his hilarious best, is a negative guy, who has not rebounded from being dumped by his girlfriend three years earlier. He finds that being alone is more manageable than being with friends, who remarkably still care about him.
The despondent and downcast Carl Allen, Jim Carrey (left), is introduced to the word "YES" by this purveyor of positive thought, Terrence Bundley, Terrence Stamp (right), as Nick, John Michael Higgins (center), looks on: Above.
    It is not until he is reintroduced to an old acquaintance, Nick, played in fine hilarity by John Michael Higgins, is Carl familiarized with a positive approach to living life - saying yes rather than no. Carl joins Nick at a "Say Yes Conference" run by Terrence Bundley, portrayed with sincere farcical intensity by Terence Stamp. Terrence's mission is to teach his students that positive thoughts begin with saying yes to others, as well as to themselves, as a way of engendering a positive thought process. Carl; however, takes it too far.
Carl, Jim Carrey, said YES to guitar lessons and used his new found talent in expressing melody to talk dispirited man-on-a-ledge, Luis Guzmán (left), down from the ledge: Above and below.
    When Carl reluctantly begins saying yes, he finds that he can't stop, especially when his hum drum life takes a turn for the better. He makes new friends, gets a big raise, revitalizes old friendships and gets a new, and very cute girl friend, Allison played by an enigmatic Zooey Deschanel. In one instance, when drinking heavily in a bar with his old pals Peter and Rooney, played respectively by Bradley Cooper and Danny Masterson, Carl offends a big strong guy buy kissing his girl, who then asks him to join him outside to settle the matter. Of course, Carl says yes. I do recollect this as one of my instances that registered on the "laughometer."
No female actor today plays quirky and any better than Zooey Deschanel, here as Carl's new found girlfriend, Allison, since his new life of YES. Allison, Zooey (center), here with her alternative band of weird Munchausen by Proxy: Above. Nothing says quirky like a souped-up mini-bike, when its driver, Zooey, wears a helmet with eyes: Below.
    Another running joke is how Carl can never say no to his boss, a true and unabashed fantasy geek (dresses in "300" and "Harry Potter" garb in parties with his peers) named Norman, played by New Zealand actor Rhys Darby. Darby still sports the flat vowel New Zealander accent that he hilariously uses as Murray in HBO's "Flight of the Concords," and he just always makes me laugh - kinda' like a young Don Knotts. Another side-splitting running gag was the obvious ramifications of saying yes to the Persian Wife Finder website. His new friend, Faranoosh, played in full burqa by Anna Khaja, stayed in tow until the Yes Man pawned her off on Norm. Right up Norm's Alley.
Jim Carrey's rendering of Carl Allen was one of a man who had lost his rudder to navigating any real measure of life itself until he, "on a lark," discover the power of the positive - YES. Carl lost touch with his friends, but not after the power of YES. Here Carl (right) regains the power to "party" with his friend Rooney (left), Danny Masterson: Above. Here Rooney (left), Danny Masterson, with Carl's best friend, Peter (right), Bradley Cooper in the maddening crowd, all watching Carl finally blowing off some pent-up steam: Below.
    "Yes Man" has a story that works and the formula method of story telling, that is so prevalent in the majority of big budget Hollywood comedies, is appreciatively absent. Director Reed found just the right cinematic note to explore the terrific chemistry between some very good actors. The runtime of just 104 minutes keeps this funny film tight, and a wise bet for time poor film fans. My "laughometer" ran hot and I advise you not to say no to "Yes Man."
What can one say here? It's a Jim Carrey Movie: Above.
    Rated PG13. Released on DVD April 7, 2009.



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