The Yes Men

2003 "Changing the world one prank at a time."
6.8| 1h20m| en| More Info
Released: 07 September 2003 Released
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Official Website: http://www.theyesmen.org/
Synopsis

A comic, biting and revelatory documentary following a small group of prankster activists as they gain worldwide notoriety for impersonating the World Trade Organization (WTO) on television and at business conferences around the world.

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Reviews

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.
Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.
kl6c Follows the exploits of man-boys who think impersonation in boring and irrelevant conferences, penis, and potty humor is political activism. Their bugaboo is the WTO, which they appear not to understand in the slightest and to which they ascribe a global conspiracy. The "Yes men" are kin to the creationists and global warming skeptics. All are ignorant amateurs who reject the scientific consensus (in this case, of professional economists regardless of political leanings) because it conflicts with their ideologically created world view. There is nothing approaching a serious treatment of "globalization" in this movie. This movie is even more anti-intellectual than a Micheal Moore movie.
Rindiana This one's a perfect example of good intentions fatally flawed by weak execution.Of course, all the anti-globalization pranks the Yes Men are confronting their unsuspecting audiences with are to be applauded for their daring activism, but even compared to the polemic and sensationalistic likes of Michael Moore (who even appears in this pic for a few short moments) there's no sharp satirical edge to the duo's mischief. Their fake presentations are simply too silly, while the didactic and emotional impact remains slight.Additionally, the storyline and editing are way too sloppy, focusing more on the Yes Men's preparations than on the activities themselves.Still, this kind of leftist guerrilla cinema is welcome, but it could've been so much better.5 out of 10 inflatable phallic monitors
artemiss-1 I think the CONTENT of the documentary was probably valid but the QUALITY of the video was less than that of a home-made one. It was so poor that I could not continue to watch the video which I tried to do twice. And that really disappoints me because I'm very much interested in anything that blows the whistle on the arrogance of international organizations whose self-interested gains appear to be the only reason for their existence.Interestingly, this documentary appeared to be inspired by Michael Moore's work. I think the makers of this one need to be mentored by Moore for awhile yet.
Alain English Following in the footsteps of Micheal Moore come another pair of left-wing satirists taking a swipe at the corporate bigwigs who run the US: meet Mike Bonanno and Andy Bichlbaum, the Yes-Men.The film revolves around four pranks staged by these two men where they impersonate representatives of the World Trade Organisation. The first is where Andy participates an international debate as an improbably named WTO official. The second sees them approach a lecture hall full of highly educated officials and academics, and suggest a new way of monitoring employees involving a screen built into a golden phallus.The third time they lecture a roomful of idealistic college students, with a plan to cure Third World starvation using burgers made from recycled human excrement, and in the fourth they tell a conference of Australian business people the WTO is shutting down.Throughout all of this, people are disgusted, horrified, elated or outraged and yet nobody appears to notice that it's all a big con. Some of this is effective, especially the third lecture which draws a hilariously angered response from the students.However, the film is weighed down by too much exposition which slows the narrative and makes the film's point seem laboured and heavy-handed. Most of the humour is ineffective, and the situations the pair find themselves in are not utilised to full comic effect.However, I would like to see more from the Yes-Men. The concluding, sombre note of the film is a reminder of how important satire remains today. With some more developed humour and a wider range of targets, the Yes-Men could easily become a force to be reckoned with.