Just learn to say "yes" and this film gets that much better

Rating: 7/10 (24 December 2008)

The talk that "Yes Man," is Jim Carrey's return to leading role comedy through the reincarnate of "Liar Liar" is not off-base by any means, but other than Carrey himself, this movie is completely different. This is Carrey in a much more contemporary comedy, not a product of formula that made him a star in the 90s. "Yes Man" is still extremely formulaic when viewed alongside recent comedies, but if you can just say "yes," and not dismiss it too early on, you'll be surprised by how fresh and entertaining this film can be.
Carrey stars as Carl Allen, a man whose boring job and divorce have him in a rut so bad that he would rather make excuses and be left alone than do anything. But when he begins to lose the faith of his best friend (Bradley Cooper of "Wedding Crashers"), Carl reluctantly attends a seminar about the power of the word "yes." At the seminar, Carl enters a 'covenant' in which he agrees to say "yes" to any opportunity, no matter how strange, that comes his way. By doing this, Carl meets a lot of frustration, but he also meets Allison (Zooey Deschanel)and his life begins changing for the more humorous.
It's the right role for Carrey, but it's also a touch odd to see the master of last decade plugged into a film where the writing, the cast and nearly everything around him is hip and current. Director Peyton Reed ("The Break-Up") and writer Nicholas Stoller ("Forgetting Sarah Marshall"), for example, both are well-versed in the recent frat-pack/ Apatow clan comedy mania that has defined the last five or so years. There is some great situational writing from Stoller where every joke or thing that Carl agrees to do is able to come back to make the film funnier later on, but Carrey does fit strangely into it all. After all, he is 46 year old and his love interest, Deschanel, is 28. Carl Allen is clearly written for someone younger, yet without Carrey there is no star power to sell this film. Carrey has that power and beyond, and though it's a bit weird to see a middle-aged man going out with the guys and getting completely drunk, it was still the right choice by the producers because his comedic strengths fit the role in terms of characterization.
Sure, "Yes Man" is one of those comedies where a guy starts out pretty despicable but wins the audiences favor and gets a girlfriend who finds out he was a jerk and doesn't forgive him though we know he has changed so he has to do something valiant to get her back. However, that's nothing new in Hollywood and "Yes Man" deserves to be judged on the meat of the comedy and not its bones. In that respect, it's mostly a very funny situational film though some of the dialog intended to be witty/clever falls flat.
The only other things that keep "Yes Man" from becoming one of the year's best comedies is the excessive use of product placement and Warner Bros. decision to brag about all the popular movies it owns the rights to ("Harry Potter" and "300") by showing them in various ways throughout the film from actual footage to costumes to DVD cases. But that's all nit-picky because as much as "Yes Man" might sell out, it's really got some great stuff buried inside.