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

I could hardly make it past the two of them patting each other on the back at length over their phony Bush website. The funniest thing about this movie is that these two were probably sobbing and crying over the 2004 election results. Have a little Wolfowitz for desert.It would seem that the jacket of the CD ought to have warned us that this wasn't really a comedy "with humor and outrageous antics" so much as a smug political statement of moral superiority by immature reprobates toadying up to the international left. Maybe they should have started with a protest of the mislabeling of their own film by the video outlet I rented it at (a major corporation).Not recommended. Anyone putting a dime into a rental fee on this one is probably supporting some group sacrificing American lives and jobs to preserve the habitat of a colony of slime mold somewhere in the ANWR.

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.

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from a documentary called "The Yes Men" that was directed by three people, but what I got was a really fun 80 minutes. The film follows a few members of the anti-corporate activist group (whose main target is the World Trade Organization) as they pull pranks in order to sabotage the large companies/organizations they disagree with. Pretty much what Michael Moore (who is featured for a few moments) does, only The Yes Men handle things in a different manner. Stemming from a situation in which they were mistaken for the World Trade Organization after someone viewed the satirical website they designed ABOUT the World Trade Organization, they accepted an offer to speak on behalf of the WTO at an International conference. Since then, they have made sporadic appearances on panels, in lectures, even on television representing the WTO, only obviously not spewing the WTO rhetoric, but inserting their own (most times offensive and outlandish) topics instead."The Yes Men" is not a great documentary, but I eat this kind of stuff right up because I find the concept of creative activism to be an intriguing one, and the way that these men are managing to infiltrate some of these organizations is not only amusing but really intelligent as well. The film is incredibly short, and personally, it left me wanting more, but I don't think there is a lot more that could be said about what they are doing that wasn't already succinctly addressed. I found the subject to be an interesting and increasingly relevant one, and the four featured Yes Men were hilarious and endearing. There wasn't a lot for me to dislike about the film, but it's not something I would recommend to a lot of people. Michael Moore fans would really dig it though. 7/10 --Shelly