There’ve been a couple of times when it would have been wiser for Jim Carrey not to say yes. Batman Forever, perhaps. The Majestic definitely.  Fun With Dick and Jane? Probably not such a good idea.

Yet he’s done himself a favour by acting in the affirmative and accepting the lead in this Hollywood adaptation of Scottish writer Danny Wallace’s whimsically pleasing novel, Yes Man.

The book described how Wallace, newly dumped by his girlfriend, fought back from social isolation (i.e. he refused offers to go to the pub) by agreeing to do anything that was randomly suggested to him.

In the film version, Carrey plays Carl Allen, a disaffected loans arranger (or, in the negative Carl’s case, a loans denier) who takes an almost perverse delight in turning down any offer - from an invite to a night  out with the boys to a tryst with a randy pensioner (he’s probably right on that one).

All this changes after a run-in with Terence Stamp’s positivity guru, a man whose yes mantra is adopted to the max by Carl with the result that he becomes a man who just can’t say no.

He signs up to Korean language course, learns the guitar, embraces email spanning scams that promise a bigger penis and – most significantly – finds himself accepting a lift with Zooey Deschanel’s motorcycle chick.

Carrey revels in a role which requires character rather than caricature, playing to his considerable gooning strengths and clearly enjoying a script which offers just that little bit more – even a sly dig at America’s obsession with “Homeland Security”.

It helps that the object of his desire is Deschanel’s wide-eyed hipster – an avant garde musician who also runs photographic/jogging classes at the crack of dawn – a satisfyingly off-beam girlfriend-in-waiting in comparison to the straitlaced likes of Kate Hudson.

There’s strong support, particularly in the form of Flight of the Conchords’ Rhys Derby as eager-to-please boss Norm, and Bradley Cooper as Carl’s despairing  best buddy.

It’s that rare thing – an example of Hollywood getting hold  of a good idea, working on it… and not screwing it up.

Just say yes.

Tim Evans