'Yes Man' gets a nod for quirky moments from Carrey, cast
"Yes Man" (two-disc special edition) Is the premise of Jim Carrey's latest comedy silly? Yes! Do the filmmakers rely too much on Robin Williams-style riffing from Carrey? Yes! Can I see where the plot is headed from miles away? Yes!
Despite all of that, "Yes Man" is an entertaining lark - funnier and quirkier than I expected. Carrey plays a lonely banker named Carl who turns to a self-help guru in order to get out of his rut. The guru, nicely played by Terence Stamp, tells Carl that if he says "yes" to everything, good things will happen. So Carl does, and good things do happen, until the writers decide that a wholly implausible plot development related to national security (groan) must be introduced to force the movie toward its predictable finish. Saving the day are a nicely balanced performance from Carrey (who actually creates a character in between his schtick), some witty dialogue and strong supporting work from Rhys Darby as Carl's nerdy boss and the odd-but-alluring Zooey Deschanel, who plays Carl's girlfriend. It's the small moments that matter in "Yes Man," and there are enough good ones to make the movie worth seeing. The two-disc set includes a downloadable copy of the film, several featurettes that show how fun it must be to work with Carrey on the set and extended performance scenes from Deschanel's fictional band, Munchausen by Proxy. The Blu-ray release offers several additional featurettes. (PG-13; Warner Home Video, $34.99 or $35.99 for Blu-ray)
"Max Fleischer's Superman" Just a few years after Superman's comic-book debut in 1938, Paramount hired the animation studio run by brothers Dave and Max Fleischer ("Betty Boop," "Popeye") to create theatrical cartoons about the character. The resulting 17 shorts, now released together in a two-disc DVD set, are among the most revered and influential cartoons every produced in America. The Fleischers took advantage of the lavish budget given them and produced short films brimming with action, color and movement. Superman's home city of Metropolis has a gorgeous art deco-inspired look, and the Fleischers' use of shadows and moody lighting anticipates the film noir movement. I was struck by how little dialogue is in these cartoons; the narratives are driven instead by the Fleischers' striking images and cinematic musical scores.
The stories are charming (if goofy) comic-book stuff; mad scientists, giant robots and good old-fashioned criminals terrorize Metropolis until Supes shows up to save the day. Beware, though: a few of the shorts - primarily those created after Paramount took over the Fleischer studio and renamed it "Famous Studios" - deal directly with World War II and include caricatures of the Japanese that some might view as offensive. The nearly 70-year-old cartoons look as good as one could expect on this remastered set. The color holds up beautifully, but dust specks appear here and there. Two bonus featurettes are included - a look at the Superman myth and an appreciation of the Fleischers' work by contemporary animators. All in all, a super set for animation and pop-culture buffs. (NR; Warner Home Video, $26.99)
Also out this week - "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (Fox); "Bedtime Stories" (Disney); "The Tale of Despereaux" (Universal); "Pre-Code Hollywood Collection" (Universal)