Fun, but doesn't stretch Carrey

Rating: 7/10 (1 January 2009)

Jim Carrey's latest vehicle resembles a re-tread of Liar Liar - Carl Allen is an overwhelmingly negative man in a small scale job in a small scale bank: prevailed upon to attend a self-help seminar which induces him into entering a covenant to only say "Yes" when asked, he finds his life transformed when the "Yes" answers produce good, if unexpected, results, while "No" responses produce negatives.
The whole thing falls to pieces, of course, when one considers that running one's life in this way means that one can't say no to things which really demand a No answer (and the lesson Carrey's character ultimately learns is that "Yes" actually means "Yes when "yes" makes sense"), but this is of course where much of the humour comes from. While much of this is predictable, there are time when the story runs off in unexpected directions, and there are a number of moments when earlier apparently inconsequential plot points pleasingly pay off later on.
There are no surprises in terms of Carrey's performance - he has been here before, and often. There is relatively little gurning, which is something to be grateful for. Zooey Deschanel reminds us of how cute she is in a performance which goes some way towards making amends for the dreadful turn she delivered in The Happening. Terence Stamp is funny as a surprisingly curmudgeonly self-help guru. And most of the supporting parts are well delivered, especially Rhys Darby as Carrey's aggressively and incompetently social boss.
There is some unnecessary bad language and an oral sex scene which, while quite funny, adds nothing of importance - the film could easily have been trimmed for this and given wider appeal. If you're a Carrey fan you will probably enjoy it - I was amused throughout.