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A pretty silly concept (saying 'yes' to everything) leads to a pretty silly, but nevertheless quite enjoyable, film - Yes Man doesn't take itself seriously and as such is quite fun. Rather derivative from other Jim Carrey comedies, notably Liar Liar, this benefits from a Carrey who isn't quite as manic as he has been in previous similar films (or appears to be in the trailers) while still being able to deliver with the physical humour when necessary. There are plot holes galore - he is rather inconsistent in actually saying 'yes' to everything, for one, and also some of the consequences of his actions aren't exactly realistic (a banker giving out loans to literally everyone who asked wouldn't keep the bank in business for long. Not even the screwed-up actions of our current bankers were quite so bad). Conversely, I did rather like the brief diversion about the dumb federal agents who view any eccentric behaviour as suspicious and dangerous - even though it is a heavy-handed way of progressing the plot, it also makes a decent point about how individuality is frowned upon by people who want us all to fit into little boxes and stay there. It didn't feel far enough from reality to avoid the value of making a telling point about the currently highly skewed nature between relationships between the goverened and the governors (the watched and the watchers, if you will).

There are of course serious problems with the idea of having to say 'yes' to everything - a similar problem to that in Ella Enchanted, though at least this isn't trying to be a kids film and can at least delve into them a little bit more, even if it does result in an 'older woman sex' scene with distressing similarities to scenes in You Don't Mess With The Zohan (my review) - and when it becomes too problematic the premise is quietly dispensed with. Too many things are disposed with too easily, this often feels like throw a lot of things at the screen in the hope we'll find at least some of them funny - though it is a strategy that mainly works, even if it makes for a rather sprawling story.

Jim Carrey is fine here, he delves into his often-annoying manic tendancies from time to time, but also manages to produce a decent performance a little deeper than the superficial humour - though that should be no surprise to anyone who has seen Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (my review). Zooey Deschanel is back on form here after her awful performance in the bafflingly-bad The Happening (my review) - hopefully we're safe to just forget about this mysterious aberration now, and/or firmly blame it on Shyalaman. Here she's the kooky but attractive style of character she is usually enjoyable playing, and while there isn't exactly a great deal of depth to the character, she comes across well. Terence Stamp makes a convincing motivational speaker/conman, and we could easily have had a bit more of him in the film. Rhys Darby is part-stereotype but delivers quite a few strong scenes too.

Better than expected, pleasantly not just a vehicle for manic Carrey, and even better a reassuring return to form for Deschanel, this is a decent enough mindless film that isn't as funny as it hopes to be but does supply quite a few laughs. 6.5 out of 10.

My final film of 2008, taking the grand total to 183, La Boheme is also the first time I've seen an opera produced as an actual film rather than just a filmed version of a performance. And La Boheme is a reasonably decent attempt at making a film out of an opera, the setting is nice and traditional and doesn't try to do anything stupid or modern, the singing is of a high quality and the acting isn't half bad given that these people are singers and not especially actors (not close-up, anyway. As a spectator, viewing a stage is very different in terms of scale from viewing a cinema screen. Obvious, but worth mentioning).

There's a few flaws though - the first being that I still don't find Italian opera all that interesting, or especially stirring to listen to (German is better, an opinion I am probably rather unusual in holding!). You can't really blame the makers of the film for what Puccini wrote, but the structure is problematic and for far too long everyone sings over one another. It isn't difficult to tell why Wagner was so determined to make opera more like talking, with only one person speaking at a time (even though he does break that rule, he only does so very rarely). Secondly, the story of La Boheme isn't all that interesting to start with, frankly. I prefer opera to be about something grand, with a love story most likely thrown in but not the entire focus (it's no accident that Tristan and Isolde is my least favourite of Wagner's mature operas). Here we've just got some irritating artists and some irritating women, and trying to pair them off. It doesn't involved me. Criticisms of the source material apart, the film has one major difficulty, and that is that the subtitles are deeply irritating - they come up a few seconds after the people have started singing their lines, just one or two seconds too late for my liking, and when this happens with every one, it gets very frustrating.

The film looks nice, sounds nice (my criticisms of Italian opera in general notwithstanding) and is an interesting experiment. I'd like to see some Wagner tried next, though I don't expect that will happen! 6 out of 10.