generic but enjoyable Carrey vehicle

Rating: 6/10 (6 May 2009)

Essentially a cock-eyed variation on "Liar Liar," "Yes Man" presents Jim Carrey as a bank loan officer who spends most of his off-duty hours actively avoiding social engagements with his friends and co-workers. A "lonely guy" by choice, Carl undergoes a life-transforming experience when he attends a self-help seminar dedicated to the proposition that one can get a whole lot more out of life by saying "yes" when opportunity comes a-knockin' than by saying "no." Soon, Carl is agreeing to virtually every offer that comes his way, often to surprising and hilarious results.
As a generally generic Carrey vehicle, "Yes Man" doesn't provide much in the way of a thespian stretch for the actor, who could toss one of these roles off in his sleep if he wanted to. On the positive side, the movie feels less contrived than some of his previous efforts, thanks to the fact that it doesn't rely on some cheap gimmick like a magic spell or a knock on the head to get the plot rolling. The decision to become compulsively agreeable remains an act of volition on the part of the character, thus making the tale more relatable and grounded in the long run. Nobody is better than Carrey when it comes to over-the-top mugging and he is frequently in prime form here. Moreover, there are quite a few genuine belly laughs that are alone worth the price of admission (with a randy encounter between Carl and his aged landlady achieving the movie's high point of hilarity).
On the downside, "Yes Man" does have a whiff of déjà vu about it that it is never entirely able to shake. Moreover, there is a certain threadbare quality that is almost inevitable when a movie's premise is built, as this one is, on the repetition of a single note. And there are some definite dull patches when the comic ideas seem to be withering on the vine. The compensation, beyond Carrey of course, comes in the form of two noteworthy supporting players: the likable Bradley Cooper as Carl's best buddy, and the winsome and charming Zooey Deschanel as the slightly offbeat motorcycle-riding band singer Carl meets and falls in love with during the course of the story.