"The Yes Men" (Documentary) (2003) - Movie Review

\Cons, impostors and corrupt politicians depend on things which are the tools applied across the table to convincingly present themselves and achieve their goals. Confidence delivering the most nonsensical idea with the straight face and utmost devotion to it is the key. In the documentary “The Yes Men”, Andy Bichlbaum and Michael Bonanno represent World Trade Organization with the sort of commitment even the real representatives would not do. They of course satire the WTO with immense preparation and dedication to their anti globalization values.

In a rest room Michael is helping Andy put on a costume which is what it appears to be a golden glown leather type material. It is then covered with a proper suit. They are in preparation of their first public prank and this is not for kicks. It might be a little but their agenda is to shock people on the seemingly seriousness of the crap they will be feeding imposing as the executives of the WTO. We come to that presentation learning how they started and what have they been doing. Their actions began with first producing a fake website for George W. Bush. They bring a sort of believability in their posing. Soon they did the same for WTO calling the fake website as gatt.org. Interesting enough, people began to mistake them for the real WTO and sent email questions. They replied not revealing their true identity but giving their “version” of answer with the official sincerity. Thus begins their journey for a bigger prank to a bigger audience.

The beautiful thing about the film and these men are the unabashed commitment in presenting this other characters. Commitment which is purely not to put themselves higher on the pedestal of pestering self righteousness but to glaringly show where we as the people in the world stand and the same for the attending audience. In their first show, they sincerely say how the morphed slavery in the current world could have been the peacemaker for the Civil War conflicts. And to effectively pursue the route of prosperous corporate profit, they invent this suit of big inflated penis like popping thing which is supposed to have a TV screen monitoring the third world workers in sweat shops and what not. For this, the people laugh at the suit’s appearance rather than the sad preposterous concept. No one seem to see the deviance in this and we laugh and worry.

“The Yes Men” is dramatic in shocking the people but the people involved really do a low key of their philosophies in a composed fashion that we go along for the ride with a clean heart. Michael Moore gives an interview and he is collected and not doing any stunts. Similar to the film and with Andy and Michael it is a low keyed high prank with considerable effectiveness. They get another project to present in an Australian trade conference. For that they put immense preparation and do a graphic which would gross out and laugh out with a harmonious reaction rarely occurring.

Another film of anti-globalization agenda was “The Corporation”, a successful film in making the workers for any company on a guilt trip without offering solution. “The Yes Men” does not advocate much to its audience rather than pointing out the situation of us in the world where the insane things does make sense. As much as it sounds idiotic, cruel and atrocious it sounds of the futuristic solutions these fake executives give, it oddly happens in a submerged version through the tentacles of power and corrupt.

This is a comedic film of a serious issue. A satire worked at its best and a spoof which is more serious than the original. They do a presentation on the US McDonald’s Hamburger consumed by their customers which are recycled several times to the third world countries and the students attending go astounded. They do not know how to react to this farce which very well is a convincing (of course with terrific animation and gravity on their faces) situation soon be placed in action. “The Yes Men” brings upon awareness on something which does not involve great emotional black mail or dramatization. It is a simple satire executed perfectly.