Yes Man
Carl Allen is at a standstill. No future… Until the day he enrolls into a personal development program based on a very simple idea: say yes to everything! Carl discovers with amazement the magical power of “Yes”, and sees his professional and romantic life turned upside down overnight: an unexpected promotion and a new girlfriend. But he’ll soon discover that better can be good’s enemy, and that all opportunities shouldn’t be taken.
- Director : Peyton Reed
- Release Date : 19 December 2008
- Genre : Comedy
- Tagline : One word can change everything.
- Runtime : 104 min
Cast
- Jim Carrey : Carl Allen
- Zooey Deschanel : Allison
- Bradley Cooper : Peter
- John Michael Higgins : Nick
- Rhys Darby : Norman
Los Angeles bank employee Carl Allen (Jim Carrey) has become withdrawn and depressed since his divorce from ex-wife Stephanie (Molly Sims). Routinely ignoring his friends, he has grown used to spending his spare time watching DVDs alone in his apartment. His outlook on life has become inherently negative. But when a friend (John Michael Higgins) persuades him to attend the “Yes!” self-improvement seminar, motivational guru Terrence Bundley (Terence Stamp) publicly browbeats him into making a covenant with himself. Carl reluctantly promises to stop being a “No Man” and vows to answer “Yes!” to every opportunity, request or invitation that presents itself thereafter.
After the seminar, saying “yes” to a homeless man’s requests only leaves Carl stranded in Elysian Park with his phone battery dead, no money, and his gas tank empty. Disillusioned, he hikes to a gas station, cursing himself for being so credulous and gullible. But at the gas station he meets Allison (Zooey Deschanel), an eccentric young woman who is refueling her scooter. She gives him a hair-raising ride back to his car, and spontaneously kisses him before she rides off.
After this experience, Carl adopts a positive mentality and seizes every opportunity that comes his way. He takes flying lessons, attends Korean language classes, learns to play the guitar, and even joins a Persian dating website. Saying “yes” constantly works to Carl’s advantage. After accepting concert tickets from a promoter whom he has previously ignored, he sees an idiosyncratic band whose lead singer turns out to be Allison. He is charmed by her quirkiness; she is charmed by his spontaneity; and the two begin dating. He earns a promotion at work after his many approved loans open new territory for the bank in the area of microcredit. Making use of his guitar lessons, he wins public acclaim by playing Third Eye Blind’s song “Jumper” to persuade a man (Luis Guzman) not to commit suicide by jumping off a ledge.
As their relationship blossoms, Carl and Allison meet at the airport for a spontaneous weekend excursion. Having decided to take the first plane out of town, no matter where its destination, they end up in Lincoln, Nebraska, where they explore the Frank H. Woods Telephone Museum, attend a college football game, and go skeet shooting. As they shelter from the rain in an isolated barn, Allison asks Carl to move in with her. He hesitantly agrees. But while checking in for the return flight, Carl is detained by FBI agents, who have profiled him as a potential terrorist because he has taken flying lessons, studied Korean, approved a loan to a fertilizer company, met an Iranian mail-order bride, and bought plane tickets at the last minute.Read more
Watch full Yes Man online streaming for free
Yes Man Quotes
Terrence Bundley: What was that you said?
Carl Allen: No.
[gets hit in the head by Terrence with his mic]
Carl Allen: Yes?
[from trailer]
Carl Allen: I do want to take guitar lessons. I do want to learn how to fly. Yes, I would like to learn Korean.
Allison: Are you stalking me?
Carl Allen: No, i would never do that.
Carl Allen: Oh by the way, the new furniture looks great from the yard.
Allison: The world’s a playground. You know that when you are a kid, but somewhere along the way everyone forgets it.
Allison: Have you met my friend Ian? He’s a computer hacker. He helped me erase your MySpace page, and your band’s MySpace page, and your FaceBook page. Happy networking asshole!
Carl Allen: The era of “yes” has begun.
Carl Allen: Was I chewing gum before?
Tweed: Can you explain why you were at the airport buying a ticket with no luggage?
Carl Allen: You know it was a spur of the moment trip.
Tweed: Yeah I was just explaining to my partner here how much I’ve always wanted to see Lincoln, Nebraska.
Carl Allen: What I have to share is huge… and I want to share it with you.
CIA Officer: Now there’s another ‘Carl’ we knew, and we weren’t too fond fond of him, his name was ‘Marx’.
Carl Allen: Hey Carl… you wanna give your money away to some homeless guy? Yes, yes I do. How bout letting him use up the phone battery so that you cant get help when your car runs out of gas? You know what? That sounds like a fuckin’ great idea!
Carl Allen: [drunk] Hey… I’m just saying ‘yes’ to life… cuz… you gotta say ‘yes’ to life… I’m in a secret covenant… that sounded naughty!
Carl Allen: You ever had a Red Bull? Ive never had a Red Bull before, but I had a Red Bull last night – I really like Red Bull.
[shakes his glow-in-the-dark hoop]
Carl Allen: … got this new… glow in the dark thing… cant really see it right now, unless you go like this…
[holds part of the hoop to his eyes and covers it with his hands]
Carl Allen: Steph…! I can’t… I’m so sorry.
Stephanie: What are you saying?
Carl Allen: …I’m saying “no.”
Multack: We knew another Carl that we weren’t fond of, now did we, Tweed…?
Tweed: …his name was “Marx.”
Carl Allen: I can’t believe I tripped like that.
Carl Allen: Yes!
[last lines]
Terrence Bundley: YES! Say it a million times. Then say it a million more. And the word you will have said two million times is…
[looks around and sees everyone at the seminar is naked]
Terrence Bundley: Oh my God.
Yes People: [while covering themselves up as best they can] YES!
Carl Allen: [incredibly drunk, after losing a bar brawl, said very sadly] She’s never gonna go to a ball.
Allison: [singing with her band] Don’t call me past 11 PM, it won’t happen again. You can call me at 10:59 but don’t call me at 11 because that’s my rule now.
Allison: [singing with her band] Don’t call me past 11pm, it won’t happen again. Happened once, it happened twice, it happened three times, maybe four times, maybe five times, maybe, maybe it happened six times, but it won’t happen seven times.
[first lines]
Carl Allen: No.
[last lines]
Terrence Bundley: Good God.
Terrence Bundley: Yes! Say it a million times. Then say it a million more. And the word you will have said two million times is…
Terrence Bundley: [looks around and sees everyone at the seminar is naked] Oh my God.
Yes People: [while covering themselves up as best they can] Yes!
