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Yes Man

6/10

Stars: Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel, Terence Stamp, Rhys Darby, Bradley Cooper, John Michael Higgins. Danny Masterson, Fionnula Flanagan

Director: Peyton Reed

Another journey from zero to hero for the manic Carrey. Passed over for promotion at the bank, where his job is refusing loan applications, Carl (Carrey), whose wife has recently left him, is dragged along to listen to a self-help guru (Stamp), who convinces Carl that the answer to his dead-end life is to say 'Yes' to everything, which includes giving a lift (and money) to a homeless man, and learning rollerblading, flying, bungee jumping, guitar playing and Korean.

Saying 'Yes' to watching an avant-garde music group, Carl re-encounters Allison (Deschanel) who had earlier given him a lift on her scooter after his car had broken down. A romance develops, based on doing things on instinct, like going to Nebraska for a weekend. And, of course, Carl's life looks up in other ways. He gets a mega-promotion based on the success of his loans and organises a smash-hit pre-nuptial shower for a bride-to-be (Sasha Alexander, late of TV's NCIS). Oh yes, and he 'talks' a man (an unbilled Luis Guzman) out of high-rise suicide by playing his guitar on the ledge.

Itr's all fast, violent and fun, if too seldom laugh-out-loud funny, which puts it a notch or two below Liar, Liar. But it does pitch an older-looking Carrey back in the right direction, which is a welcome step. Deschanel's google eyes and off-the-wall personality make her a good foil for the star, and she bags the film's funniest moment when, as an inexperienced skeet shooter, she fires into the ground, then scores a bullseye with her second shot, swinging round in triumph and causing the entire crowd to fall to the ground.

David Quinlan

USA 2008. UK Distributor: Warner Bros. Technicolor.
98 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 12A.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 1, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 0, Swearing 1.

Review date: 21 Dec 2008