The Movie: Yes Man (opening December 19)

The Buzz: Playing a jerk who decides to say “yes” to everything that comes his way, Jim Carrey returns to broad comedy after poisoning the earth with The Number 23.

The Trailer:

 The Review:

Y’all, in the south, it’s not necessarily a compliment to call something “cute.” Sort of how “bless your heart” is a polite way of saying, ”You’re pathetic.”

When I saw the trailer for Yes Man, I thought, “Well, this looks… cute.”

By that I mean, “This looks like a movie I wrote in my sleep while I was listening to Celine Dion.” Because really, isn’t it obvious where it’s going? Jerky McJerkerson learns a valuable lesson about opening himself to life’s possibilities. Cue strings, roll credits.

I’ll bet the plot goes like this: In the first twenty minutes, Jim Carrey behaves like an ass. Then he spends an hour making comical mistakes that teach him valuable lessons, like burning his fingers during an Asian-fusion cooking class and realizing his wife works hard to fix dinner every night. Then in the last half hour, he has an emotional revelation, cries, and leaves the film a better man.

Ultimately, this movie will be decently entertaining and totally forgettable, just like Liar, Liar and every other jackass-to-sweetheart fantasy. Many people will say, “It was good, but it wasn’t Groundhog Day.”

Because Groundhoug Day is the modern pinnacle of this form, and every other movie is a chump, trying to catch up.

Or maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Yes Man rocks. But the preview isn’t convincing me.

The Rating: Two Very Long Shadows of Punxsutawney Phil