Yes Man (film)
- Not to be confused with the political activist group The Yes Men and their unrelated movie The Yes Men (film).
| Yes Man | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Peyton Reed |
| Written by | Screenplay: Nicholas Stoller Jarrad Paul Andrew Mogel Book: Danny Wallace |
| Produced by | Jim Carrey David Heyman Richard D. Zanuck |
| Starring | Jim Carrey Terrence Stamp Zooey Deschanel Bradley Cooper Rhys Darby Danny Masterson |
| Cinematography | Robert D. Yeoman |
| Edited by | Craig Alpert |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release dates | December 19, 2008 (US) December 26, 2008 (UK) |
Running time | 104 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Yes Man is a Template:Fy American comedy film directed by Peyton Reed and starring Jim Carrey. The film is based on the true story and 2005 book The Yes Man by British humourist Danny Wallace. Production began in Los Angeles, CA in October 2007.
Premise
Carl Allen (Jim Carrey) is challenged to say yes to everything that comes his way in his life, leading to a series of comic events.[1]
Production
Jim Carrey received no money upfront for his role in the movie. He will instead be paid based on the movie's box office success.[2]
During shooting of a scene where Carrey's character bungee jumps off a bridge, Carrey interrupted and asked to do the stunt himself.[3] Carrey stated to the stunt double that he intended to do it in one take. When he jumps off, he is seen taking out a cell phone for the scene.
While shooting the scene in the bar where Carrey's character turns around into a waitress and falls flat on his back, Carrey executed the stunt incorrectly and fell to the floor harder than he expected, breaking three ribs in the process. Carrey himself revealed this in an interview for Moviefone in response to a viewer-submitted question about the film's stunts. [4]
Carrey also mastered basic Korean language for a scene. A language coach was hired to help Carrey learn the language accurately. However, this is not the same for the scene in which Carrey's character learns to play the guitar; Carrey has been playing the instrument since his childhood.
The film's soundtrack will feature original music by Munchausen by Proxy, the band to which Jim Carrey's character is incessantly invited to see by an over-eager manager/street promoter. Along with female lead Zooey Deschanel, the fictional band was created by Von Iva.[5] The San Francisco-based all-girl power trio of vocals, keyboards and drums were hired to collaborate with the actress to write and perform the original songs and stylized aesthetic of the group for this pivotal scene.[6][7] Von Iva got the part of the fictional ensemble in the film after the movie's music supervisor, Jonathan Karp, saw the cover of their CD in Amoeba in Hollywood.[8]
Reception
Yes Man generated mixed to average reviews.[9] Rotten Tomatoes reported that 45% of critics gave positive based on 103 reviews. [10] Most critics thought that its plot was too similar to Liar Liar which also starred Jim Carrey.[11] Metacritic also gave the film a 45/100 approval rating based on 23 reviews. [12]
In his review for The Miami Herald, Rene Rodriguez wrote, "Yes Man is fine as far as Carrey comedies go, but it's even better as a love story that just happens to make you laugh,"[13] while Kyle Smith of The New York Post countered in his review that, "The first time I saw Yes Man, I thought the concept was getting kind of stale toward the end. As it turns out, that was only the trailer."[14]
The film opened #1 in its first weekend at the box office with $18.2 million.[15]
Further reading
Yes Man by Danny Wallace. Film tie-in edition, published in the UK by Ebury Press on 4th December 2008. ISBN 978-0-09-192790-5. The book follows the story of Wallace's real-life self-challenge to answer "yes" to everything.
References
- ^ Borys Kit (2007-10-22). "Deschanel says 'Yes' to female lead". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Dorothy Pomerantz (2007-12-10). "The Most Overpaid Celebrities". Forbes. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Steve Chupnick (2008-01-31). "Jim Carrey Says Yes to Bungie Jump". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ http://www.moviefone.com/unscripted/yes-man/336/unscripted-complete-interview/2355956?icid=aimDBDL1_link1-a
- ^ http://www.voniva.com/
- ^ Jennifer Maerz (2008-08-21). "Von Iva Teams Up with Zooey Deschanel". sfweekly.com.
- ^ Troup, Christina (2008-12-04). "Von Iva: 'Girls on Film'". San Francisco Examiner.
- ^ "Von Iva: Yes Women". SuicideGirls.com. 08 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Cite error: The named reference
metawas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Yes Man Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
- ^ "Critics Consensus: No To Yes Man; Seven Pounds Is Too Heavy". RottenTomatoes. IGN Entertainment, Inc. December 18, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
- ^ "Yes Man (2008):Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
- ^ "Miami Herald Yes Man Review". The Miami Herald. December 19, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
- ^ "Oh, no! 'Yes' is a mess". The New York Post. December 19, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
- ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for December 19–21, 2008". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-12-21.