The Yes Men Are Revolting is the third charming installment in a trilogy of films about, and in-part directed by, activist pranksters The Yes Men. This time around, the film explores two main themes: global warming and Mike Bonanno and Andy Bichlbaum’s relationships.
Their private lives are a subject less discussed in the other films (The Yes Men and The Yex Men Fix the World) and it offers a new lens through which to view their activism. The film tracks Mike and Andy through their frustrations in love and in their collaboration on The Yes Men. It follows Mike as he moves his family to Scotland and then back to New York, where the guys climb 16 flights of stairs during Hurricane Sandy and have an intimate flash-lit conversation on Andy’s kitchen floor. The personal touches in The Yes Men Are Revolting add an emotional aspect to the film, giving a very real human face to both their operation and the world they are trying to save. However, the moments of anxiety, aimlessness, and frustration can sometimes drag on, slowing down the film overall.
When the film is focusing on the issues, co-director Laura Nix illustrates them well with beautiful and informative animations to compliment The Yes Men’s hijinx. Some material from the previous films is reiterated for new audience members, but the environmentally centric subject matter is mostly new territory. Bonanno and Bichlbaum (pseudonyms, both) launch such projects as a fake Shell party that goes terribly wrong and highlights in the media the danger of drilling in the Arctic. With similar motives, they infiltrate a Homeland Security event that ends with an entire room of business-minded politicians in a circle dance to Native American drums, moved to revolution by the progressive words of Andy’s character.
Gentle, funny, moments like these are used to give the film a sense of hope, perhaps to give payoff to the buddy theme that runs throughout, perhaps to contrast all of the apocalyptic jargon that gets thrown around when discussing global warming. Whatever the reason, it does not ring entirely true. Although they make fun of themselves for having such a “walk off into the sunset” closure and then proceed to ask for funding to keep up the fight, their silly self-awareness does not entirely make up for the oddly placed sentimentality that lives in the film. It seems to undercut the compelling and very serious arguments they discuss and actions they take, something their comedy highlights, by contrast.
This aspect of the film runs contrary to what The Yes Men do best. When they are being themselves (or at least the selves that they have marketed to the world) — that is, funny, sarcastic, and dauntingly aware — the film shines. The Yes Men Are Revolting succeeds overall at its upbeat, proactive, and riling message, an impressive feat for any third film in a trilogy.
