It is not great due to its being particularly spectacular and despite the fact that the film largely sticks to convention, "Yes Man" does have a hefty dose of a special kind of deepness being based on a memoir by Danny Wallace. At times Carl's example seems well worth following, though maybe without the granny.

 

A chance encounter with an exuberant and slightly unhinged friend (a funny John Michael Higgins) inspires Carl to attend a self-help seminar. Though he resists, he is swept up by the movement's charismatic guru (Terence Stamp) and makes a covenant to seize opportunities and respond affirmatively to all requests. The first involves giving a ride to a homeless man that leads to a humorous chain of events and a chance meeting with a free-spirited girl (Zooey Deschanel). Carl is convinced that terrible repercussions will ensue if he says no. Illustrating that point is a funny scene involving an encounter with a randy elderly neighbor (Fionnula Flannagan).

 

The idea is inspired enough: a series of unusual "yescapades," a term coined by author Danny Wallace, on whose memoir the movie is based. But with Carrey in the lead, its freshness seems compromised because of his previous “Liar Liar.”

 

The movie’s premise is not far from that of “Liar Liar,” one of Mr. Carrey’s biggest hits of the mid-’90s, in which he played a chronic dissembler suddenly compelled to tell the truth. Moreover the final message of this latest comedy is shallower. Life is a matter of shades, metaphorically speaking. Things in life are neither black, nor white; everything in life is rather in between these two extremes. And "Yes Man" underlines this idea in the most obvious way… in a too obvious manner as a matter of fact.

 

As far as the clownish mask that Carrey has been hiding himself behind, ever since he became famous, it is a false problem. In films such as “The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” or “The Truman Show,” he shared his vulnerabilities with the whole world. And he proved he can be much more than a funny man and a funny actor who cares about the public only.

 

It is a perfect film for the Christmas holidays. It is light enough not to get us thinking of it for too long, boasting a solid dose of light humor and a couple of refreshing performances. "It really comes down to thinking about someone sitting in a seat laughing," Carrey told reporters in recent interviews to promote the movie. "And that's it, when you do a movie like this. It's really that that gets me off."