Review of Yes Man (2008) by Bryan W — 14 Jul 2011

Assuming that Jim Carrey is here to repeat 'Liar Liar' is not only a mistake, it's an enormous fault in judgment. Short of his contractual obligation to 'Ace Ventura 2', Carrey has studiously avoided mining the same material, and though there is a similarity in the basic premise, it's like comparing 'Goodfellas' to 'The Godfather'.

By saying 'yes' to every opportunity he confronts, this film's protagonist is put in more than a few awkward and hilarious situations, and short of doubting his financial wherewithal to compete, most of them are completely believable. Even better, the jokes are actually funny without obsessively serving the general concept. The kicker, though, is that the film's dramatic propulsion is born of the concept and executed with believability without exception. We can all expect that there will be a moment of doubt in the romance between the two leads in a romantic comedy, but rarely does the dumper have a rock solid foundation to leave while the dumpee comes away without too much tarnish. Deschanel's reaction to Carrey's singular fixation unravels her perception of their relationship so completely that she'd be an idiot not to walk away.

Breathing new life into this convention is one of the many earmarks of great romantic comedies. The other important elements, namely the ones that lie in the writing, plotting, and performance of the film, are just important, and here they are pulled off with panache free from pandering. My assumption was not that Carrey would duplicate 'Liar Liar', but that his downward trend beginning with 'Me, Myself & Irene' and culminating with 'Bruce Almighty' would leave this movie barren and sloppy. I'm glad I finally stopped my trend of saying 'no' to it.