Ah, 2008, back when Jim Carrey remained an “A-list” star but Bradley Cooper found himself stuck with “second banana” status! 2008’s Yes Man brings the story of Carl Allen (Carrey), a man stuck in the doldrums.

Still depressed after the departure of his ex-wife Stephanie (Molly Sims) three years earlier, Carl works at a dead-end job as a loan officer. He habitually declines offers from friends and others to do anything other than mope in his apartment.

One day Carl runs across an old acquaintance named Nick (John Michael Higgins) who espouses the theories of self-help guru Terrence Bundley (Terence Stamp). Bundley touts the “Yes!” plan that essentially requires all of its advocates to say “yes” to virtually every offer that comes across their plates. Carl accepts this plan and we follow the ways that this affects his life, including his relationship with free-spirited musician Allison (Zooey Deschanel).

Back in the series’ fifth season, The Simpsons ran an episode in which a self-help guru espoused a “do what you feel like” philosophy inspired by Bart. This ends poorly, as everyone cedes responsibility for their actions.

Yes Man reminds me a whole bunch of that episode, though it tends to take the opposite worldview, as in this flick, brainless conformity to a simplistic plan is a good thing. Yeah, the film tries to balance this by its end, but 99 percent of the time, it sticks with the whole “say ‘yes’ to everything” mindset and shows us how this brings Carl to life.

Bah, humbug! Forgive me if I tire of the whole notion that to “really live life”, you have to climb Mt. Everest or jump off of a bridge. I resist the idea that there’s one particular approach to “living life” that trumps all others, especially since we always get battered over the head with the same perspective that involves the activities portrayed in the film.

Never mind that the concept of saying “yes” to everything would go really, really wrong in a really, really big hurry. The whole Terrence Bundley side creeps me out, as he and his followers come across like a spooky cult.

And why is it a good idea to vandalize a bank as Nick does early in the movie? Because he felt like it? That’s moronic and counterproductive.

Again, the movie eventually comes around to the notion that saying “yes” to everything isn’t a very good idea – after it tells us it’s a great idea for 90 minutes. I’m not sure what message it wants us to take other than “be open to some ideas but not to others”. I guess Happy Medium Man didn’t look good on the posters.

Perhaps I took the film’s premise too seriously, as I recognize that the framework exists largely as an excuse to place Carrey in a series of wacky situations. If the film proved more successful in that regard, I might excuse the idiocy of its concept.

Unfortunately, Carrey can’t do much to mine any potential laughs. Actually, he may make this tripe more palatable than would otherwise be the case, but Carl just isn’t an interesting enough character to carry the film.

In many ways, Yes Man reminds me of Groundhog Day, though that film explored its concept in a much more satisfying – and less idiotic - way. Yes Man is like a really simple-minded, dumbed-down version of Groundhog with a much less interesting lead character.

By the way, does it seem odd that Carl only seems to know people who are 15 to 20 years younger than he? Granted, I’m taking Carrey’s actual age and comparing it to his costars, which doesn’t necessarily equate to the ages of Carl and the others.

Still, it remains clear they’re substantially younger than the mid-40s Carrey, and it seems weird that they pal around with him, especially since he’s such a stick in the mud. Maybe Carrey wanted younger friends – and a much younger leading lady in Deschanel – to make himself seem more youthful, but it doesn’t work. Instead, we’re just distracted by the casting choices.

Of course, if Yes Man did its job and amused us, we wouldn’t notice the age issues, plot idiocy or other concerns. But amuse us it fails to do. Carrey can always pull a few laughs out of his butt – sometimes literally – but he can’t redeem this tiresome bore.

Footnote: a tag scene shows up partway into the end credits.

Yes Man appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though not a terrific presentation, the image largely satisfied.

For the most part, sharpness seemed fine. Some interiors looked a little on the soft side but these still delivered mostly appropriate delineation.

The film showed no moiré effects or jaggies, and it lacked edge haloes. Print flaws also remained absent.

Colors opted toward a teal and orange bent. These choices appeared acceptably well-rendered but didn’t stand out as memorable.

Blacks seemed dark and full, but shadows were less positive. Low-light shots tended to be a little thick and bland. Again, the movie came with inconsistencies but it seemed good enough for a “B”.

Like most comedies, the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack of Yes Man didn’t pack a big punch. However, it seemed more than satisfying for this kind of flick.

Most of the time, the soundfield emphasized general ambience. This meant a good sense of atmosphere throughout the film, as the track brought the various settings to life in a positive manner.

Surround usage tended to reinforce that side of things, though a few sequences added a bit of zip to the package. For instance, a thunderstorm provided a nice sense of place, and some aircraft scenes did the same. This wasn’t an impressive track, but it did what it needed to do.

At all times, audio quality was fine. Speech sounded distinctive and natural, without edginess or other concerns. Music was vivid and rich, and effects also seemed well-reproduced.

Those elements showed good vivacity and accuracy throughout the film. The soundscape wasn’t exciting enough to make this more than a “B” track, but I thought it was more than acceptable.

How did the Blu-ray compare to the DVD version? Audio remained pretty similar. The lossless TrueHD mix added some range and impact, but the generally low-key nature of the track meant it didn’t show immense expansion.

Visuals became a different issue, as the Blu-ray demonstrated clear improvements over the lackluster DVD. The BD was better defined and cleaner along with stronger colors. Even with the BD’s inconsistencies, it became an obvious upgrade over the DVD.

The package offers the same extras as the DVD and some added materials. Downtime on the Set of Yes Man with Jim Carrey goes for three minutes, 59 seconds and provides some comments from actor Jim Carrey and director Peyton Reed.

They don’t tell us much, as “Downtime” mostly just shows Carrey as he goofs around on the set. That makes it mildly interesting but not more than that.

We find more of the actor in Jim Carrey: Extreme Yes Man. This one goes for 11 minutes, 52 seconds as it presents info from Carrey, Reed, “rollerman” Jean-Yves Blondeau, stunt player Ernest Vigil, and actor Zooey Deschanel.

We check out the shooting of some of the movie’s stunt sequences. This feels a bit promotional, but it gives us a number of good glimpses behind the scenes.

Some info about the movie’s music comes to us via the five-minute, 28-second Future Sounds: Munchausen By Proxy. This becomes a fake Behind the Music sort of program about the film’s phony band. It’s cute at best but not exactly fascinating stuff.

Next we find five “exclusive” Munchausen By Proxy Music Videos. We see clips for “Uh-Huh”, “Yes Man”, “Star-Spangled Banner”, “Sweet Ballad” and “Keystar”. Don’t take the title of “music videos” too seriously, as these actually offer clips from the shoot. However, they provide longer versions of some songs and a few performances that don’t make the final film at all, so I expect fans will find them interesting.

A Gag Reel fills five minutes, 35 seconds. Should you expect more than lots of shots of Carrey as he goofs around on the set? Nope, but that’s enough to make this more fun than the average blooper reel.

On Set with Danny Wallace: The Original Yes Man fills eight minutes, 32 seconds and includes notes from author Wallace. He leads us around the soundstage to chat with cast and crew in this watchable but insubstantial segment.

Next comes Say Yes to Red Bull!, a two-minute, six-second reel with Reed, Carrey, and producer David Heyman. As implied, “Yes” looks at the scene in which Carrey’s character is supposed to be hyped up on energy drinks. We get some decent shots from the set.

After this we find Party Central with Norman Stokes, a two-minute, 16-second clip that features Rhys Darby in character as “Norman Stokes”. He takes us on a tour of his role’s apartment in this mediocre reel.

Eight Additional Scenes take up a total of seven minutes, 31 seconds. The first six offer minor tidbits and gags, but the last two add to Carl’s development, and the final segment shows an alternate ending of sorts. They’re worth a look.

I like Jim Carrey and wanted to enjoy Yes Man, but the film disappoints. It can’t compensate for its flimsy premise with enough laughs to engage us. The Blu-ray provides generally positive picture and audio along with a moderately useful set of supplements. This ends up as a decent release for a mediocre movie.

To rate this film, visit the prior review of YES MAN