The Yes Covenant
Say “Yes” to everything? That’s a tall order for anyone, but Carl Allen (Jim Carrey) – a loan officer who’s favorite word is “No” – does just that, thanks to the helpful coaxing of his acquaintance Nick (John Michael Higgins) and a bit of persuasion from self help guru, Terrence Bundley (Terence Stamp). With the power of “Yes,” Carl is able to open himself up to a world he only glanced at before. With each “Yes” he opens himself up to better and better things, not to mention gain a new romantic interest in Allison (Zooey Deschanel).
Carrey is in good comedic form, leaving the crazy faces that made him famous at home. Well, most of them. You feel for Carl, who is at an obvious crossroads in life. He’s despondent, in a comfortable rut, and unwilling to budge from the sanctity of his couch unless its for work. We’ve all been there. Hell, some of us are still there! Stamp, even though his screen time was short, had probably the best running sequence in a movie I’ve seen in a long time. I half expected it to end with him swinging a samurai sword in the end, lopping off the head of some unsuspecting victim. Deschanel is as adorable as ever in her role as Allison. I was surprised to find out she has a pretty decent singing voice.
The message of this movie was pretty clear, at least for me: Stay true to yourself, but don’t be afraid to live. Yes Man is a definite cattle call to all the shut-ins, internet addicts and couch potatoes out there who find comfort in ignoring opportunity’s knocks for the comfort of solitude. Jim Carrey sums up the message of the movie pretty well himself:
“It’s usually not the things we say yes to that we regret; it’s when we say no that we look back and think, ‘Ah, I could have lived a little bit more.'”
While it wasn’t a laugh riot, Yes Man was funny and engaging enough to keep me entertained. So live a little and head to the theatre this weekend if you haven’t already seen it.
