SNMR 7.27: "Yes Man"

GREEN'S MAKE... ME... BELIEVE... IT! REVIEW:

Carl Allen (Jim Carrey) is the true definition of a loner. Living his life but not living his life to the fullest. That is until his friend Nick (John Michael Higgins) tells him about Terrence (Terrence Stamp), a self help guru whose theme is Yes, Yes, YES!! When Carl makes a covenant to say yes instead of no, good things begin to happen - he meets a girl, gets a promotion at work and really starts to enjoy life.

This film could otherwise be called Liar Liar 2 because it's the same basic premise as the superior 1997 Carrey movie Liar, Liar. This, to me, is clearly not Carrey's best movie. True, there are some funny sequences in the movie but not enough to make up for the rest of it. There are some good performances. Bradley Cooper, whose career took off after his role on Alias. Zooey Deschanel is charming as usual. John Michael Higgins brings his usual energy to his limited role. However the best performance comes from newcomer Rhys Darby as Carl's bank boss Norman.

I've not read Danny Wallace's book, so can't say how closely the movie follows, but it seems to me like a weak script and that's never good. Peyton Reed's direction is fine, given the material. I enjoyed his previous two feature films as Director in Down With Love and The Break Up.

The DVD has both the full screen and wide screen versions on either side of the disc, which I can't stand, and no extras.

If you passed on seeing this movie, you wouldn’t miss much.

** out of *****

Yes Man (2008, PG-13, 104 minutes), starring Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel, Bradley Cooper, Rhys Darby and Terrence Stamp. Based on the novel by Danny Wallace. Screenplay by Andrew Mogel, Jarrad Paul and Nicholas Stoller. Directed by Peyton Reed.