Yes Day (2021)

Directed by: Miguel Arteta | 96 minutes | comedy, family | Actors: Jennifer Garner, Edgar Ramírez, Jenna Ortega, Julian Lerner, Everly Carganilla, Tracie Thoms, Fortune Feimster, Nat Faxon, Arturo Castro, Hayden Szeto, Megan Stott, Alana Baer, ​​Yimmy Yim, Graham Phillips, Wolf Fleetwood-Ross, Adam Faison

Allison and Carlos Torres always said yes to everything. Whether it was about exciting adventures, long journeys or getting married, it didn’t matter to them. And now that they have children? Now they only say ‘no’, especially to those kids of theirs. That goes well for a while, until daughter Katie reaches puberty and rebels. She challenges her parents to hold a Yes Day: a day where parents can only say yes to (almost) everything.

This lame premise forms the content of the equally lame family comedy ‘Yes Day’. We follow the Torres family through the challenges their children have created for them. For example, the family has to eat a mega ice cream bowl and then take a ride through the car wash with the windows down. This all goes well for a while, until things go wrong and the fire brigade and the police have to be involved.

Because ‘Yes Day’ is a film for the whole family, the humor is also for all ages. There are some good jokes for the parents, but the majority of the jokes are of the more childish (physical) kind. As usual in this genre, besides the jokes, you will also find the necessary sentiment, especially when the relationship between Katie and her mother comes under pressure. While those sentimental pieces don’t deserve the prize for originality, they don’t really bother you either.

The unbalanced quality in the acting is disturbing. Jennifer Garner is reliable as ever, although she is almost outplayed by the young Jenna Ortega (who was also so good in ‘You’). Edgar Ramirez on the other hand is very colorless as Carlos Torres. Very annoying is Julian Lerner as Nando Torres, a kid who is supposed to be a nerd but here is more the prototype of the way too loud American prepubescent (the kind that thinks everything is awesome). Those can sometimes be fun roles, but Lerner only arouses annoyance.

What the makers of ‘Yes Day’ do well is that they never put the brakes on the already crazy events. By always steaming full steam ahead, the film shows that it only wants to offer entertainment. That doesn’t make it a good film, but ‘Yes Day’ is just enough for unpretentious entertainment.