Hulkinger The Yes Men have mastered the art of deception: they imitate the dress codes, roles and diction of power so perfectly that they can even speak in the name of major corporations without arousing suspicion (e.g. as in the case of falsified announcements by Dow Chemicals concerning the compensation of the Bhopal victims). It is brilliant to watch.

tieman64 "The Yes Men" and "The Yes Men Fix The World" are a pair of documentary comedies which follow the exploits of the Yes Men, a group of "culture jammers" who impersonate the identities of those they dislike and engage in "identity correction", a process in which they either behave as the entity really would behave were it not socially bound to maintain some modicum of civility, or behave as the entity would behave were it ethically responsible. In other words, the Yes Men are a group of socially conscious activists who engage in pranks. They con their way into various situations and satirically pretend to be various corporate heads, politicians, bureaucrats and world shakers. Most of their satire flies over the heads of their audiences.And so the two films find the Yes Men pointing out the unethical practises of Dow Chemical, BP, ExxonMobile, Milton Friedman cultists, the world trade organisation, the New York Times, the US Chamber of Commerce, various environmental bodies, various bastions of commerce, various media corporations, and various bodies responsible for the post hurricane Katrina clean up.Most of their pranks start with a fake website, such as their mock website of the World Trade Organisation, which despite being ridiculously blunt about the WTO's unethical practises garnered the Yes Men an invitation to speak at an official occasion. Once in, the Yes Men's representatives then caused havoc before unsuspecting audiences. Thanks to global media, their actions were carried out in full public glare. Other Yes Men stunts involve delineating the principles of free trade by taking such principles to their logical conclusions. Elsewhere they put forward arguments for selling votes to the highest corporate bidder, making the poor eat feces to cure endemic hunger and allowing countries to commit human rights abuses with a system of "justice vouchers" modelled after pollution vouchers. Yet, shockingly, the Yes Men's audiences often show little difficulty in accepting the legitimacy of such ideas. At a CPA meeting (a group of accountants), for instance, the Yes Men exploited the credulity of their audiences by recruiting them into the elaborate fiction of a trade organisation governed by grotesque principles. The two films highlight not only how willingly the public accepts unethical behaviour, but how such behaviour, as it is intimately bound with concepts of success, has long been seen as an ideal to be pursued.Because the Yes Men's cons are difficult to set up and execute, the two documentaries spend most of their time focusing on preparatory work. The actual pranks are few and far between, which will irk those looking for incessant humour. Compared to, say, "Punked", "Borat" or the "Jacka** Movies", these are slow films. Both films also fail to properly/intelligently explore that which the Yes Men rally against. Interestingly, the Yes Men are shown without familial or romantic relationships. Their private personalities are not delved into and they seem androgynous and almost ascetic. Their first two pranks, we learn, involved inserting homosexual activity into a computer game and inserting masculine, warrior voices into female dolls. Their gender-bending, a kind of monastic selflessness coupled to chameleon like amorphousness, echoes the impersonal flux of global capitalism. In theory, they're a parasite which can permeate any situation and counter-bend as readily as capitalism can. In practise, this is perhaps impossible. Even detrimental to their health.While some view the Yes Men as a needed, new breed of activism - of spirituality even - most view them as a mild annoyance engaging in futile efforts. For some theorists, culture and counter-culture are barely distinguishable in an all-pervasive, global culture too ready to incorporate the anti-gesture. Culture jamming, some believe, is rapidly losing political force and the capacity to generate new cultural images and values. On the flip side, the force of the Yes Men's prank comedy lies in the fact that it rises above the abstemious moment of critique and the seemingly noble aim of "enlightening people" and in so doing takes us onto another register. In a time in which global capitalism has such a monopoly on what can be thought, their task seems to be that of enabling something genuinely new to be thought. Their whole image is based on a recognition that affirmation, rather than refusal, is a novel political strategy.8/10 – Worth one viewing.

darling137 Yes Men Fix the World is much less a documentary than it is an attempt at comedy in the spirit of Borat or Dog Bites Man. The two principals are hoaxters who pass themselves off as government or corporate spokesman on television or at conferences, focusing on the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal,India and Hurricane Katrina.Most of the entertainment comes with the ease at which they are invited to speak publicly, the shock and shtick of their outrageous speech and presentation, and the subsequent discovery of the hoax. They pull off the deception masterfully and, save for the odd inquisitive reporter or genuinely interested attendee, their audiences are either amused, confused or completely uninterested.What is distracting and ultimately confusing about the film is their modus operandi and their justification for their actions. It is hard to tell if they are carnival barkers just out to make a buck at the expense of unsuspecting corporate types and television anchors or they are genuine activists using this medium to draw attention to causes they think deserve it.If it is the former, we can credit them for pulling a fast one but the gag from revealing their props and proposals wears off rather quickly. That they only complete four pranks makes for a lot of unfunny filler material. Also, if humor is the intent, it is a very preachy humor in which corporations and, strangely enough, economist Milton Friedman are demonized and simplistic moral outrage is celebrated.If it is the latter, they seem to be blissfully unaware of the impact (and slight hypocrisy) of raising the hopes of victims of a tragedy in the name of sheer attention. And it may have been inconveniently timed that they chose to focus on Friedman's quotes on crises being the catalyst for change in a year that the White House chief of staff was quoted making the same points.What we get is a short collection of pranks, not as juvenile as Borat but not as subtle as Dog Bites Man, with some interesting audience reactions and a self-righteous tone ("We didn't lie, we told the truth") If your political views are left of center you most likely enjoy this movie more than center and center-right folks. While Ebert is my only movie review source, given his political views I wasn't too surprised he gave three stars to such a mediocre film.

guyfroml It has been many years since I have laughed so hard and for so long to the point where I risked sending myself into cardiac arrest. Let me say up front I'm a strong conservative and I realize these guys are about as liberal as they come - but at least I give them credit for realizing that humor is the best tool to attack the opposition.Having been involved in many political campaigns as an analyst, I've often criticized liberals for having an angry and bitter disposition to anyone who thinks differently. I didn't see that in Andy and Mike. They come across as good natured, which as a conservative I can then always respect their opinion - even if I disagree.Their pranks demonstrate just how gullible many in government and the media are - not to mention plain stupid. Being from Louisiana I can tell you it wasn't a difficult challenge to dupe the likes of a Ray Nagin (mayor of New Orleans) and Kathleen Blanco (at the time governor of Louisiana). But then, the scene where they get a respected businessman into a terrorist protective suit that looks like an obese cockroach with Halliburton stamped on the side takes "pranking" to a new level. Absolutely priceless! Andy and Mike, I might not agree with your politics, but I love your methodology of promoting your position. I can't wait to see the next pranks you pull.