Yes Man (12A)

Director: Peyton Reed

Who's in it:
Jim Carrey - Carl Allen
Zooey Deschanel - Allison
Bradley Cooper - Peter
John Michael Higgins - Nick
Rhys Darby - Norman

Yes Man is a comedy set in Los Angeles where cynic, Carl Allen (Carrey) finds his life monotonous and boring. A friend of his, attempts to revitalise this and pressures Carl into attending a self-empowerment conference, leading to Carl saying "yes" to every opportunity presented to him, no matter how radical - with hilarious results.

I have always been a fan of Carrey's films and usually felt that he portrayed the character he was cast as very well, with films as old as "The Mask" and "Ace Ventura - Pet Detective" I rarely found comedies starring Carrey to be boring. That being said I went into the cinema with a feeling of optimism that the film would be as enjoyable as the rest - and was not disappointed.

The film starts out with Carl Allen, stuck in a dead-end job as a loan-consultant at a bank and finding himself making excuses to not spend time socialising with his friends, but instead renting films and spending night after night alone. After the aforementioned "yes" conference Carrey bumps into Allison (Zooey Deschanel) and then of course the love story ensues. Without giving anything away I can tell you not to expect anything outrageous with this love story, it's textbook "boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, boy and girl encounter problem, boy and girl fix problem" - but the specifics regarding how this happens is funny, unexpected and heart-warming - if unoriginal.

What I enjoyed most about this film was the side characters and their roles in how Carl Allen's life changes dramatically. Carl's boss Norman (Darby) plays a stereotypical 'naive nerd' but it fits so well I can barely pick fault at it. The quality of acting is up to the standard of this kind of film - it's no blockbuster but it fits the bill.

I also enjoyed the very simple execution of the storyline. It was easy on the mind and an ideal film to go to see if you just fancy a film, or have a couple of hours to kill.

If you're a fan of Carrey's films then you will enjoy this, I also recommend this for an after-Christmas family-outing as the swearing is minimal and apart from a few glimpses of bare bottoms and a 3-second clip of covered-up fronts - no nudity whatsoever.

Finally I recommend this film to any comedy lover, provided you're not an 'art-house film' elitist that gets kicks out of picking up on continuance errors and plot flaws. Then again you'd probably like this film for that purpose anyway.

What I didn't enjoy about this film was the shallow characters. There was very little information given as to why Carl was so switched off, cynical and pessimistic other than the odd hint about how his wife left him 3 years previous to the time-setting of the film. I also found myself having to say "well I suppose that could happen" over and over and even in one particular scenario I was "shushed" by the audience for whispering "Oh come on! Like that would ever happen." rather loudly.

You won't like this film if you're not a fan of family films. There are no high-adrenaline gun-fights, no intelligent plot-twists and definitely no 'sex-scenes'. So if you're after that then I suggest something else.