Review of Yes Man (2008) by Spencer H — 06 Mar 2016

Bank loan officer Carl Allen (Jim Carrey) has become withdrawn since his divorce from ex-wife Stephanie. He has an increasingly negative outlook on his life and routinely ignores his friends Pete (Bradley Cooper) and Rooney (Danny Masterson). An old colleague friend, Nicholas "Nick" Lane (John Michael Higgins) suggests that he goes to a motivational "Yes!" seminar with him, which encourages its attendants to seize the opportunity to say "Yes!". Carl attends and meets inspirational guru Terrence Bundley (Terence Stamp). Bundley publicly forces a reluctant Carl to promise to answer "Yes!" to every opportunity, request, or invitation that presents itself. Later, Carl says yes to a homeless man's request and is stranded in Elysian Park. Disillusioned, he hikes to a gas station where he meets Allison (Zooey Deschanel), an unorthodox young woman. She gives him a ride back to his car on her scooter and kisses him before leaving. After this positive experience, Carl feels more optimistic about saying yes. However, he refuses oral sex from his elderly neighbor Tillie (Fionnula Flanagan), and then falls down the stairs and is nearly attacked by a dog. Seeing the repercussions of saying no, he goes back to Tillie and to his surprise enjoys the moment. Carl starts to seize every opportunity that comes his way. He renews his friendships with Pete and Rooney; builds a bond with his boss, Norman (Rhys Darby); assists Pete's fiancée, Lucy (Sasha Alexander), with her bridal shower; attends Korean language classes; and much more. He earns a corporate promotion at work and, making use of his guitar lessons, plays Third Eye Blind's song "Jumper" to persuade a man not to commit suicide. Accepting a band flyer outside of a coffee shop, he sees an idiosyncratic band called Munchausen by Proxy; the lead singer is Allison. He is charmed by her quirkiness; she is charmed by his spontaneity and the two begin dating. Carl and Allison meet at the airport for a spontaneous weekend excursion. Having decided to take the first plane out of town, regardless of its destination, they end up in Lincoln, Nebraska, where they bond more. Allison asks Carl to move in with her and he hesitantly agrees. While checking in for the return flight, Carl and Allison are detained by FBI agents who have profiled him as a potential terrorist because he has taken flying lessons, studied Korean, approved a loan to a fertilizer company, met an Iranian, and bought plane tickets at the last minute. Pete, his attorney, travels to Nebraska to explain Carl's odd habits, lessons, and decisions. As she finds out about Carl's motivational covenant, Allison begins to doubt whether his commitment to her was ever sincere. Deciding that she can no longer trust him, Allison leaves Carl and refuses to return his phone calls. Carl needs to figure out if the covenant is just a hoax and how he can win Allison back in his life...

I personally think this is amongst Jim Carrey´s best films. Here he has the perfect balance with his comic talent and it never becomes over the top in my opinion. The recognition factor is high on how life can sideline you at times, the storyline with the idea of actually saying yes to things in life instead of no is solid and so true, the chemistry between Jim Carrey and Zooey Deschanel is fantastic and feels so real, Rhys Darby is brilliant as Norm, great comic support from Bradley Cooper, Danny Masterson and John Michael Higgins and there´s so many golden comic scenes in the film. When Carl carries Allison at the airport, when Allison hugs Carl in the barn, when he saves the guy from killing himself by singing Third Eye Blind´s "Jumper", Norm´s dress up parties, when Carl starts speaking korean in the store etc etc. I could mention almost every scene in the film... Plus there´s great music from Eels, Bloc Party, The Bravery etc and how can you not fall madly and deeply in love with Zooey Deschanel? I was mesmerised by her the first time I saw "Yes Man" and no matter how many times I will see this film, she wins my heart every time. And she seems to be that way in real life as well. She is true girlfriend material. She is funny, quirky, charming, smart, beautiful, multitalented, lovely and just bloody adorable. "Yes Man" is a great and truly funny rom-com movie based on layers of life we all can relate to.