SAY YES TO “YES MAN”

SPOILER ALERT: We’re discussing the film “Yes Man” here and may disclose some of the plot so if you haven’t seen it –and I recommend you do– come back to read this post afterward.

It’s rare that I get both uplifted AND entertained by a movie. Director Peyton Reed’s “Yes Man” is that type of film. Starring Jim Carrey as “Carl” and Zooey Deschanel as “Alison”, the story starts out with Carl as a sad sack guy filled with negativity and ennui wanting to stay at home hiding from his friends and the world at large. It’s only when he takes a seminar that requires he say yes to everything (even dubious opportunities) that good things start coming his way. Feng Shui By Fishgirl calls that being in the flow with the universe. Not only does his dead-end job turn around but also Carl ends up being happier and attracting more opportunities to him. That’s what feng shui is all about.

Carl soon starts noticing the synchronicity and begins to look for signs. By the end of the film he realizes he can be a conduit to bringing other people together, introduce opportunity to his widening circle of friend, and discovers that he is integral to their lives since we truly are all connected. Without Carl saying Yes to taking Korean lessons would Sue and Norman meet at the end of the movie, for example?

We never know where saying yes is going to lead. And fortunately, the movie explains clearly that one doesn’t need to say yes to everything and everyone, just those things that resonate within one’s heart. It’s opening your heart that is key and then paying attention to what it’s telling you. Then you are free to say no to some things (which is the same as saying yes to yourself). Of course, all of this is conveyed with a great deal of humor and pathos as Jim Carrey delivers a touching and believable performance. I say 2 thumbs up to “Yes Man” and to making more films like it. Do you agree?