DVD Reviews

Yes Man – Blu-ray Review

By Jeff Swindoll Apr 7, 2009, 17:07 GMT

Carl Allen has stumbled across a way to shake free of post-divorce blues and a dead-end job: embrace life and say yes to everything. Take a bungee plunge? Yes. Accept call-now TV offers? Yes. Learn Korean? Yes. Grab the first flight to anywhere? Yes. Win your dream girl? Yes. Crack up fans with a feel-good, laugh-loaded romp? Yes! Working every funny bone in his nimble body and every muscle in ...more

“Yes is the new no.”

Jim Carrey stars as a guy who just can’t say no. Not that his life is treating him well to begin with but he finds that if he responds to every question with yes that life begins to change for him. Did I like it? Why yes I did. I’m not a “No Man.”

Carl Allen (Jim Carrey) is in a funk. He rarely leaves his apartment since his divorce and generally has a negative outlook on life. His friend Peter (Bradley Cooper) convinces the reclusive Carl to leave his apartment with disastrous results since Carl sees his happy ex-wife Stephanie (Molly Sims).

His old friend Nick (John Michael Higgins) convinces the dour Carl to attend a seminar by motivational speaker Terrence Bundley (Terence Stamp) who has started the “Yes!” movement.

Bundley singles out Carl and makes him turn from a “No Man” to a “Yes Man.” His first “yes” moment is annoying as he has to take a homeless man to a park and his car runs out of gas, but he ends up at a gas station and meets the eccentric Allison (Zooey Deschanel). Soon his geeky bank manager boss Norman (Rhys Darby) is looking at Carl as his best bud after his various “yes” answers and Carl’s climbing the hierarchy at the bank.

After this encounter Carl starts to believe in the power of “Yes!” and starts saying yes to every opportunity offered him. However, what happens when he has to say no?

Yes Man is based on a non-fiction book by British humorist Danny Wallace who committed to saying yes for six months and wrote about his experiences with the experience.

Yes Man might seem like a version of Carrey’s other hit Liar Liar, but it has more of a sentimental heart than the rubber face comedian’s other film. The comedian still does his schtick and pulls some of the same faces that he’s known for, it’s just the story has a “cute” factor that’s really somewhat infectious.

The whole concept of being a “Yes Man” is somewhat ludicrous since it could quickly turn into Strangers on a Train. Would you like to kill my wife? Why yes I would and you don’t even have to kill your father or anything. It would be my pleasure.

Zooey Deschanel is always charming and certainly doesn’t lose let down in this film. She and Carrey make a cute pair. Terence Stamp is cast against type as the maniacal self-help guru, well maybe not since I used maniacal in that sentence. Rhys Darby seems like Hugh Jackman’s stunted, shorter brother, but he’s also hilarious as Carl’s goofball boss.

If you’re standing in line at the rental store and someone asks you if you want to rent Yes Man, you know what the answer should be. I guess we could use a little happiness in our lives the way the economy is going and Yes Man will at least provide you with some laughs.

Yes Man is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (2.40:1). Special features are presented in high definition and include the 4 minute “Downtime on the set of Yes Man with Jim Carrey” showing how Carrey kills time during downtime on the set. The 12 minute “Jim Carrey: Extreme Yes Man” about the stunts that Carrey performed for the film.

Next you get the 5 minute “Future Sounds: Munchausen by Proxy” which is a fake music channel special on the fictional band and 14 minutes of performances by them as well. You also get a 5 minute gag reel. The following special features are exclusive to the Blu-ray. The 8 minute “On the set with Danny Wallace” covers the author’s set tour and his cameo.

The 2 minute “Say Yes to Red Bull” looks at what happens when Carrey downs a can. The 2 minute “Yes Man: Party Central” has Rhys Darby (“Norman”) giving us a tour of his character’s apartment. There are also 7 minutes of deleted scenes.

Disc one also is BD-Live enabled that will give you some exclusive online special features, providing your player can connect to the Internet. Disc two has a digital copy for your PC or portable device.

Yes Man is a sweet movie and surely to boost tourism to Lincoln, Nebraska. Carrey and Deschanel make a cute couple and play well off of each other. It was nice to be able to say yes for the film’s running time. Give it a go or Terence Stamp will yell at you.