One Jim Carrey comedy formula (not followed in more serious movies such as The Majestic and The Truman Show, or, admittedly, in the goofy Dumb and Dumber and Ace Ventura) is to cast Carrey as a boring milquetoast who is transformed into Jim Carrey. So he becomes manically unable to lie in Liar, Liar, simply manic in The Mask, and manically unable to say “no” to anyone in Yes Man. He is compelled not by a magical spell but the emptiness of his “no-man” life and a distinct fear of Terrence Stamp’s gaze which, combined with a few coincidences, makes him think he is under a magic spell.
And so he learns to fly a plane, learns Korean, meets and dates Zooey Deschanel, fixes his neighbor’s shelves and imports a Persian bride. Fortunately for him no one asks him to do anything illegal or immoral. The “say yes to life” message is obvious from the get-go, so the movie’s success hinges on its ability to give Carrey those zany moments that he can convert to big laughs. It’s a partial success in my book. I found the movie entertaining and more funny than simply amusing, but without the killer scenes that would make me want to see it again. Should you see it? Depends on whether you’re a Yes Man or not.
I thought this was ok, more of a movie to watch when you’re at home, I wouldn’t recommend paying $10 for it though.
I just saw Seven Pounds last night, thought that it was pretty good.