YES MEN

Jim Carrey is staking his reputation on the romantic-comedy Yes Man, for a pay cheque is dependent on the film turning a profit. And the film deserves at least moderate box-office success; Yes Man is enjoyable, if not especially memorable. Carrey plays likeable schmo Carl Allen, who is, when we first meet him, the embodiment of a wet-fish handshake. Carl is still in the dumps three years after his divorce, and spends his days rejecting loans inside a drab bank and his nights defaulting on drinks with the boys, in favour of DVDs at home. Then, an Anthony Robbins-type induces him to become a yes-man automaton, consenting to every request and offer. This volte-face brings great rewards, not least the zany Alison (the husky-voiced and winsome Zooey Deschanel) ‘ but is he lavishing his time on her because he can only say ‘yes” (Carlin Hurdis)