Love Jim Carrey, but definitely wouldn't sit through this again,

Rating: 3/10 (3 January 2009)

I went into this movie trying not to expect too much from it. Lord knows, Hollywood has been pumping out so much crap recently that it's difficult to think of any movie worth getting excited about, and a movie nearly always seems to be more satisfying when you arrive knowing that it's unlikely to be more than it's advertised as. But I've always loved Jim Carrey and, with the exception of Number 23 (because I heard so much negativity about that film that I just couldn't be bothered) always make an effort to try and catch everything that he's in. And with this film getting positive reception from so many places, I crossed my fingers and went in for the grating two hours.
In three words, I was disappointed. As usual, Jim makes for an endearing and likable leading man (even if he is starting to look a little long in the tooth) and I really can't imagine anybody else pulling off this kind of role but him. And really, that goes without saying; it's hard to name any film where Jim hasn't been likable. But the script was so annoyingly stupid that it really made it hard to get into the story. Maybe I'm just bitter and cynical (all of my friends kept gushing afterward about how they found the movie "inspiring" and kept telling me to lighten up) but having to suspend this much belief in a comedy is always going to make for a prickly ride.
I ended up having so many issues with the screenplay that it's hard to know where to begin. Yes, I guess if you go through life constantly saying no to everything then you ARE going to miss out on opportunities, but to go to the opposite extreme and start saying yes to everything is not necessarily a better idea. It is, after all, what gets numerous people taking advantage of him - including his so-called friends, one of whom cons him into arranging his fiancé's bridal shower and another who even moves into his house while he's away - and ultimately taints his relationship with his love interest, when she finds out the truth behind his constant agreeing to things (and there's another problem; if you ask me her reasons for getting mad at him were really not that reasonable).
So why couldn't they just admit at the end that saying yes to everything is actually just as stupid as saying no to everything? Oh, that's right - because if you dare say no to anything then suddenly bad things will miraculously happen to you, even though that never happened to Jim when he said no to things BEFORE attending the self-help seminar. Which brings silly inconsistency into the script which it doesn't need, and makes the film that much less believable. If you're going to feature a supernatural subplot in a film, then it better have a fitting place for it. This kind of movie doesn't have that place.
And oh, how it runs out of steam towards the end. It doesn't even seem to know what it's trying to say, which was probably inevitable when you've got a concept as muddled as this, and ultimately solid proof for why they shouldn't have bothered. As a direct result, it gets so bored and desperate to wrap everything up that it finishes by resolving the ending only halfheartedly. To drag us through that kind of frustration is unforgivable in itself, but to conclude it with an ending both contrived, implausible and lacking in any decent sense is a right kick in the teeth. The part in which Jim reconciles with Zooey was so badly written that it left me wishing they HADN'T gotten back together, and the final quote from Terrance Stamp - "say yes because you have to believe that it's what you really want" - is so removed from what he was preaching before that it just makes the whole film look confused. What he really should've said was, "Find a balanced happy medium in your life - say no where necessary and yes where necessary, so that you don't pick up a manipulative homeless man and get into trouble with the FBI".
The movie is not without it's chuckles. The scene in which the withered old lady gives Jim oral pleasure was a surprising highlight. But the rest of the film was befuddled, silly, unconvincing and uneven, with an unsatisfying ending that won't admit to any of its mistakes. By all means, nice to see Jim back on top again at the box office, but definitely a case where a box office blockbuster doesn't automatically equate to a good film.