Synopsis: “Yes Man” stars Jim Carrey as Carl Allen, a guy whose life is going nowhere–the operative word being “no”–until he signs up for a self-help program based on one simple covenant: say “yes” to everything…and anything. Unleashing the power of “YES” begins to transform Carl’s life in amazing and unexpected ways; getting him promoted at work and opening the door to a new romance. But his willingness to embrace every opportunity might just become too much of a good thing.

Recently out on DVD is the comedy Yes Man. In my opinion, Yes Man gets 3 stars. Overall, the movie was very solid with some genuinely hilarious moments. This film, however, will not go down as a classic for Jim Carrey—that “special something” was simply missing from it. This could very well have been brought about by the fact that the general plot and feel of the movie was strikingly familiar, almost as if it were an unstated sequel, to another film. The basic premise is that a man who seems to say “no” to everything comes to a point in which he must say “yes” to everything. It kind of reminded me of a past film I saw in which the main character usually lied about everything but then came to a point in life where he had to tell the truth about everything. That’s right, I’m talking about Liar, Liar—also starring Jim Carrey. For this reason, I couldn’t give the movie anything above 3 stars, despite its great entertaining value.

On the bright side, this movie was saved from anything less than 3 stars by its cast. Jim Carrey was definitely entertaining, but Jim Carrey alone can only take a movie so far (i.e. Cable Guy). However, some great actors who had some fantastic characters to portray surrounded him in Yes Man. Two that stuck out to me in this film were Zooey Deschanel (from Elf) and Rhys Darby (from The Flight of the Conchords). Rhys Darby was especially genius carrying out his role of Jim Carrey’s boss, Norman, as I felt he was the funniest character in the film. Zooey Deschanel did a great job playing Jim Carrey’s romantic interest, as she seemed to provide the right amount of quirkiness and balance to Carrey’s role.

The film definitely attempted to portray a message to its viewers. Producer David Heyman stated about the film: “The idea that if you say yes—if you’re open to the possibilities that life throws before you—then great things will happen, (is) very intriguing.” Yes Man essentially teaches that life is found in being open to whatever life brings your way, and by experiencing those possibilities. Despite there being some truth in the importance of not shutting yourself off from experiences, there is a major flaw that is found in this ideology: not everything one can experience in life should be experienced. Jim Carrey’s character finds this out as he progresses through his “covenant” with saying yes. Still in the end, Carrey is told by the “Yes Guru” that it is all about opening one’s self up to saying yes to things so that you can begin to say yes to the things we want. However, there are many things that we may “want” to which we should still say “no.” We must always remember that life is found in Jesus and saying yes to Him and to His will—not by saying yes to anything or even saying yes to the things we may want.

If you are looking for a fun film, I would definitely recommend adding this movie to your Netflix queue, as Yes Man is rather enjoyable. However if you are looking for a comedy that could keep you laughing after multiple viewings, I would recommend saying “no” to Yes Man.