Danny Wallace is the writer of How To Star a Cult and Random Acts of Kindness, his second book Yes Man has recently been made into a movie. The book was based on events in Danny's own life. Finding himself stuck in a rut he took the advice of a stranger and decided to say yes to everything. The film is loosely based on the book, but presents a more caricatured depiction of Danny's story.
Storyline
Carl Allen, played by Jim Carrey, is a divorcee who lives alone. He works at a bank and spends his evenings alone watching movies, and ignoring his friend's invites out in order to avoid bumping into his ex-wife. After a chance meeting with Nick, old friend, Carl starts to feel like maybe it is time for a change. He heads off to an event Nick has invited him to, the Yes Man convention. After being singled out of the crowd as a new comer, Carl is 'persuaded' to make a deal with himself and accept yes into his life. He is reluctant at first but a helpful push from Nick, soon shows him that saying yes to the strangest and least appealing requests can lead to unexpected happiness. Carl quickly becomes a disciple of saying yes, the film develops around his crazy antics, and the romance which blossoms from his dedication to yes.
What to Expect
Carl's character is developed well at the beginning of the film, he is portrayed as frustrating to know, and dislikeable. The transformation he undergoes does lack a certain subtlety, for example a dream which helps prompts him to make the change in his life is an obvious devise. Whilst the creative team has tried to make a joke out of this, it's still very weak. The use of a series of coincidences make Carl's belief in saying yes more plausible, however yet again there are some scenes thrown in which push the point a little too much and in rather unnecessary ways. However Carrey's performance more than makes up for this, the film is two hours of him doing what he does best, physical comedy. There are some wonderful laugh out loud scenes, notably one in which a very drunk Carl gets in to a bar fight, here the writers and directors balance the comedy with an outcome you wouldn't necessarily expect.
Other Highlights
The supporting cast is also a lot of fun, Zooey Deschanel is beautifully entertaining as Carl's love interest. Carl's boss at the bank played by Rhys Darby, has the makings of a cult character. The relationship between the two develops well and is one of the few points of the film that truly seems to touch on what Danny Wallace's original idea was trying to get at.
This is a feel good comedy, but definitely not for younger audiences. There is no great depth to the film however it does succeed at being good, light-hearted entertainment that makes you laugh out loud.
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