The Yes Men (film)
{{distinguish|Yes Man (film)}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2019}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Yes Men
| image = YESMEN-box hires dvd.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = {{Plainlist|
- Dan Ollman
- Sarah Price
- Chris Smith
}}
| producer = {{Plainlist|
- Sarah Price
- Doug Ruschhaupt
- Randy Russell
- Chris Smith
}}
| writer =
| starring = {{Plainlist|
}}
| music = Jon Solomon
| cinematography =
| editing = Dan Ollman
| studio = United Artists
| distributor = MGM Distribution Co.
| released = {{Film date|2003|9|7|TIFF|2004|9|24|United States}}
| runtime = 83 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget =
}}
The Yes Men is a 2003 American documentary film about the early culture jamming exploits of The Yes Men.
The film revolves around "The Yes Men" — two anti-globalization activists, under the aliases Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno — who impersonate spokespeople for the WTO and affiliated corporations in order to secretly lampoon and satirize these organizations with elaborate ruses and fraudulent announcements of ridiculous corporate decisions, in front of live, unsuspecting audiences (usually comprising businesspeople, university student bodies, and the press). The film details the two activists' involvement in hoaxes targeting SimCopter, the 2000 G. W. Bush presidential campaign, McDonald's, and, most prominently, the WTO. The film also includes brief interviews with Michael Moore and Greg Palast.
The film premiered at the 28th Toronto International Film Festival in 2003. It was also shown as part of a special screening at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. The film received generally positive reviews from critics. It is followed by a sequel, The Yes Men Fix the World.
Reception
{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|87|7.1|83|Shining a spotlight on activists as unorthodox as they are entertaining, The Yes Men proves advocating for social change can be seriously funny.}}{{cite web |title=The Yes Men |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/yes_men |website=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=2025-02-06 }} {{Metacritic film prose|68|26}}{{cite web |title=The Yes Men |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-yes-men |website=Metacritic |access-date=2025-02-06 }}
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave it 3 out of 5 stars and called the film "Subversive and diabolically funny."{{cite magazine |date=24 September 2004 |last=Travers |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Travers |title=The Yes Men |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-yes-men-122202/ |magazine=Rolling Stone }} Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it 3 out of 4 stars, and wrote: "Amazing in what it shows, but underwhelming in what it does with it."{{cite news |date=October 1, 2004 |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |title=No one gets joke in 'Yes Men' |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-yes-men-2004 |newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.theyesmen.org/ The Yes Men website]
- {{IMDb title|0379593|The Yes Men}}
{{Chris Smith}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yes Men, The}}
Category:2004 documentary films
Category:American business films
Category:Documentary films about business
Category:Films about activists
Category:Films directed by Chris Smith
Category:Films shot in New York City
Category:Films shot in Tampere
Category:Anti-corporate activism
Category:2000s English-language films
Category:English-language documentary films
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