The Yes Men (2003)

Directors:

Dan Ollman
Sarah Price

Release Date:

7 September 2003 (Canada)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

Changing the world one prank at a time.

Plot:

Anti-corporate activists travel from conference to conference, impersonating member of the World Trade Organization.

Plot Keywords:

Hamburger | Economics | Fast Food | Impersonation | Phallus

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Mike Bonanno	...	Himself
Andy Bichlbaum	...	Himself
Michael Moore	...	Himself
Patrick Lichty	...	Himself
Sal Salamone	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Phil Bayly	...	Chicago News Reporter
Dr. Andreas Bichlbauer	...	Himself
Philip De Lorenzo	...	Himself / Student
Greg Palast	...	Himself

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

Canada:80 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | USA:83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (Mono)

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | Australia:M | Ireland:15A | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Norway:A | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Yes Men Films LLC

Movie Connections:

Features The Birth of a Nation (1915)

Amusing pranks but a boring film

I wanted to like this film. They pull off a few very good satirical pranks on the WTO, but the documentary itself is incredibly boring and insipid. We seem them buying clothes, eating lunch, talking about all kinds of unrelated crap, when the pranksters themselves are rather boring personalities. This could easily have been trimmed to 60 minutes and been a TV show. It's a good poke in the eye for globalization, but the film itself seems to be preaching to the converted, and very little goes into explaining why it is so bad. Michael Moore gives an appearance, dressed all in black now that he's an upper-East side rich boy and not an everyman from Flint anymore, and his anecdote about Mexican border towns being as impoverished now as they were before NAFTA is all the proof we get of the globalization movement being an affront against humanity. They could have made a very compelling argument, but instead we get endless scenes of them walking around talking about buying shoes.

Compared to something like Roger & Me, this is clearly a piker in the documentary genre. It's worth catching on cable, or if you're anti-globalization and want to root for your cause, it has a few good laughs.