FILM REVIEW:Yes Man

UK Release date:
Way too soon
Starring:
Jim Carrey and Zooey Deschanel

Simple ideas are always the best. Where would the world be without a round thing that moves other things? Hot stuff that cooks raw stuff? Puppies? Loads of extras blades on razors? A Police Academy film based in Russia?

In Yes Man, Jim Carrey has come up with the simplest film premise of all time: he's a guy who can't stop telling the truth. Oh wait, sorry, that's a different film entirely. In Liar Liar, sorry Yes Man, he plays a guy who has to say yes to everything - not for any good reason except he's wacky that way. This is based on a book by a British guy who comes up with mildly amusing one-off ideas and turns them into books and stage shows which are subsequently turned into films (see also: Tony Hawks, Dave Gorman, Mark Dolan, Dom Joly but especially Dave Gorman). His name is Danny Wallace and he has confused a one-off pub conversation with a career in comedy. Amazingly, so has everyone else.

Obviously, if you've seen Liar, Liar, you've seen Yes Man. Guy at a loose end does something extreme and wacky like tell the truth or say yes all the time, discovers life is worth living, laughs/cries along the way, learns a lesson, Randy Newman song plays out over end credits.

But we at The No Show don't play like that, so decided it was time to confront Mr Carrey with some HARD TRUTHS in the form of 50 questions that he couldn't possibly answer yes to. That's FIFTY questions people. Believe it.

1. So Jim, is this film really any different from Liar, Liar?
2. Has your move into "serious" acting with "films" like The Number 23 and The Majestic been a success?
3. Will you ever ever make anything as good as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind again?
4. Are you still relevant as a comedian?
5. Do you have more to offer as an actor than gurning, shouting and looking surprised?
6. Would you really rather play one-joke British handjobs like Danny Wallace than complex and interesting characters like Andy Kaufmann, Truman Burbank or Horton?
7. Should Ace Ventura be revived as a franchise?
8. In the next Batman film, do you think you'd be well-cast as the Riddler... again?
9. Are your adult movies better than your kids' movies?
10. Did you enjoy your brief relationship with Renee Zellweger?
11. Did your dong compare well with the rest of the male cast of In Living Colour?
12. Did you enjoy working with Ben Stiller on the Cable Guy?
13. Should the sequels to some of your most successful films (The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, Bruce Almighty) been allowed anywhere near a cinema?
14. Do you think you look good with long hair?
15. Was Fun with Dick and Jane any fun at all?
16. Is working with Joel Schumacher - twice - a rewarding cinematic experience?
17. Does The Number 23 make any sense?
18. Will there be a sequel to Me, Myself and Irene?
19. Jack Nicholson called you "The Jack Nicholson of your generation". Is he right?
20. You are from Canada. Do you intend to move back to Canada any time soon?
21. Do you think Canada wants you back?
    
22. Are you really worth $20 million?
23. Is the name Focker really that funny - because you wrote it?
24. Will Yes Man be an interesting piece of work that leaves an open-ended answer rather than have a pat learn a life lesson ending?
25. Was Renee Zellweger better in bed than Jenny McCarthy?
26. If you weren't famous, do you think attractive actresses and Renee Zellweger would have slept with you anyway?
27. You are soon to star in I love You Phillip Morris with Ewan McGregor. He's been in lot of good films, hasn't he?
28. Seriously, the new Star Wars films were great, weren't they?
29. In The Number 23, there's a character call Topsy Kretts, is that the best name for a character ever?
30. In Fun with Dick and Jane, you starred with Tea Leoni. Did you or any of the crew manage to find her personality?
31. In Lemony Snickett's A Series of Unfortunate Events, you starred with Meryl Streep. Do you think your performance, which clogged up most of the screen, was better than Meryl's relatively brief appearance?
32. Your co-star in Bruce Almighty was Jennifer Aniston. Have you seen any of her other movies?
33. Do you think you should have got an Oscar for The Majestic?
34. Your films just get funnier and funnier as your career goes on, don't they?
35. Did you enjoy the witty banter with Tommy "Laugh machine Lee" Jones on Batman Forever?
36. Next Christmas, we'll see you as Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. Do you really think anyone wants that?
37. Are you happy about continually losing out on big roles like Jack Sparrow and Willy Wonka to Johnny Depp?
38. Did you deserve the $25,000,000 for Bruce Almighty? And before you answer, remember: that's $12,500,000 per laugh and we saw those in the trailer.)
39. Are you proud of Earth Girls Are Easy?
    
40. Do you think your version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas has replaced the earlier animated version as a beloved annual Christmas classic?
41. Do you think you'll ever go back and finish high school?
42. Do you think you'll ever win an Oscar?
43. Isn't that Jamie Kennedy funny in Son of the Mask?
44. After taking on Danny Wallace's Yes Man, do you think you'd like to do a version of Dave Gorman's seminal one-joke TV series/book/website/tour/lecture I am Dave Gorman?
45. Is Dave Gorman funny?
46. Are you a better Canadian than Bill Shatner?
    
47. Is a Jim Carrey movie (that's any Jim Carrey movie) better than the movie Carrie?
48. You make a habit of playing damaged people or people who hide behind masks and voiceovers. Is that because you are such a good actor and so well-balanced?
49. Have you ever been to Dundee (where Danny Wallace was born)?
50. Terence Stamp is great. He was General Zod in Superman II and the voice of Jor-El in the new Superman TV show and he played the very cool transsexual in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and now he's starring in bloody Yes Man with you. Would this be a career highlight for him?

So. Wanna watch the trailer? Didn't think so...