Not a patch on the book but not bad

Rating: 7/10 (28 April 2009)

I'm not the most prolific reader of books. in fact I'm lucky if i get through half a dozen books a year . One of the novels i have read recently is the fantastic Autobiographical " Yes Man " written by the extremely talented Londoner Danny Wallace . It's a funny , moving and ingenious book that i found hard to put down . So when i heard it was being made into a film i was thrilled. That was until i found out that it was going to be a Rom Com starring Jim Carey.
Carl Allen is a guy whose life is going nowhere—the operative word being "no"—until he signs up for a self-help program based on one simple covenant: say yes to everything...and anything. Unleashing the power of "YES" begins to transform Carl's life in amazing and unexpected ways, getting him promoted at work and opening the door to a new romance. But his willingness to embrace every opportunity might just become too much of a good thing.
Ten minutes into Yes Man i soon realised that this is very loosely based on the book. In fact it's nothing like it. Sure there are a few moments that happen in the book that are repeated in the film but not many. I'm not a fan of Jim Carey as regular readers of my blog will know. I don't think he's very funny and when he tries straight acting he's even worse. So what I'm about to say may surprise you. I actually quite liked Yes Man!
Sure it's not true to the book but once i got my head around that i started to quite enjoy it. Carey is not as annoying as normal and his supporting cast are very good. Zooey Deschanel is delightful as the love interest and "Flight of Concords " star Rhys Darby is hilarious. In fact he nearly steals the show from old rubber face himself. It's true that it's a romantic comedy and that's not every one's cup of tea (especially mine) but there are enough distractions to make you forget that. It does lose it's way in the last twenty minutes when it starts to get a bit preachy ( which couldn't be further from the book) but you can forgive it for that.
Yes Man isn't the sort of film you need to think about too much. It's a movie that you can just sit back and enjoy....but not too much. There are a couple of really funny scenes. One involves Carl and a role of sticky tape and the other a pensioner who has a special talent when she takes her teeth out. You use your imagination with that one! Having said that there is also an awful scene that made no sense at all involving a man trying to commit suicide and a spontaneous burst of song. Jim Carey has made a whole load of awful films in recent years and fans of his will be asking , Is Jim back? The Answer is........Yes Man!
(But i recommend the book more than the film)
7 out of 10