YES MAN
RYAN: We attended the advanced screening of “Yes Man” at the Lincoln Square theater on 68th and Broadway – thank you very much, Warner Bros. What say you – yea or nay?
CAROLINE: I really liked this movie. It’s a goofy, broad comedy and I laughed out loud many times. I think I like Jim Carrey more than I usually admit.
RYAN: I think I like him in the sense that when I watch him, I want to be him. He looks like he’s having so much fun. I would love to be able to do all the facial expressions he does.
CAROLINE: He’s just so good at what he does. I liked him in “The Truman Show” and “Eternal Sunshine,” but this kind of comedy is really what he does best. He’s aging now, and looking a little older, but he’s still so funny, and so physical with his humor.
RYAN: One way to try to detract from the fact that he’s aging? Cast a much younger woman as his love interest; in this case, Zooey Deschanel.
CAROLINE: She was actually pretty good in this. We’ve liked her in movies in the past, even though her acting can be sub-par; but here she’s very appealing.
RYAN: She’s very well cast in this role because the character’s a little wacky, and she also gets to show off her singing, which I really enjoyed. Her acting is definitely better here than it was in “The Happening.”
CAROLINE: I loved all the music in the movie. Her band performance was hilarious.
RYAN: There was one scene in the movie where I was thinking how it looked like Jim Carrey had spit collecting in the corners of his mouth ‘cuz his lips were so dry, and I was reminding myself to say something to you about it when the movie ended, and right at that moment you leaned over and said, “He really needs some lip balm.”
CAROLINE: Great minds think alike. His lips were so chapped in several scenes! I couldn’t figure out why the make-up lady didn’t hand him a Chapstick.
RYAN: Very distracting and poor hygiene.
CAROLINE: I loved seeing Murray from “Flight of the Conchords” in his first feature film. He plays Jim Carrey’s colleague and he’s hilarious.
RYAN: I’d like to thank the casting directors for choosing the very hot Bradley Cooper to play Jim Carrey’s buddy. He’s great at playing the best friend, which pretty much seems to be the only movie role he gets.
CAROLINE: There are definitely some similarities between this movie and “Liar Liar” in that Jim Carrey makes a vow to say “yes” to everything, much like he promised to never tell lies in “Liar Liar.” But it still totally works, and it’s a lot funnier than some of the dumb movies we saw this year like “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” and “The Love Guru.” This movie actually seems like a summer movie, but it’s a nice alternative to all the heavy and serious movies out right now.
RYAN: I liked how original the romantic comedy elements were too. There’s a formula in every romantic comedy, of course: they meet, they fall in love, there’s an obstacle they have to overcome. But in this movie, there are some romantic moments that make the film unique.
CAROLINE: There were definitely some gross-out scenes that might have made me cringe in a lesser movie; but even the gag jokes in this movie worked, and I think it’s because Jim Carrey is so damn good. He’s just so fun to watch.
— BOTTOM LINE —
RYAN: It’s really funny, and there are several great musical scenes, my favorite of which was a guitar number from Jim Carrey. I also really like Zooey Deschanel, so I recommend. It’s a little bit of fun to see a romantic comedy amidst all the Oscar contenders out now.
CAROLINE: It’s a really funny, enjoyable movie even though it’s goofy in parts. It will genuinely make you laugh, and there’s a positive message about trying to live your life to the fullest. It’s also not too long, which is fabulous. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
— RATING —
