Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Yes Day’ On Netflix, An Endearing Family Comedy Starring Jennifer Garner & Édgar Ramírez

It might be hard to believe, but Yes Day, now streaming on Netflix, is Jennifer Garner’s first project with the streamer. The star best known for beloved hits like 13 Going On 30, Alias, and Juno makes her Netflix debut alongside  Édgar Ramírez (The Undoing,The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story) and up-and-comer Jenna Ortega (YOU, Jane the Virgin). We’re here to tell you if Garner and Netflix are the match-made-in-streaming-heaven they seem to be. 

YES DAY: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Once upon a time, Allison (Jennifer Garner) always said “yes”; she said yes to jumping out of planes, to line-dancing, to traveling solo, to marrying Carlos (Édgar Ramírez). Three kids in and a little more wary of the world, however, the couple who once lived for “yes” now spend their days saying “no” to just about everything. Allison is forced to be the bad guy at home, while Carlos does the same at his office (he’s a workaholic lawyer). After a less-than-ideal parent-teacher conference that reveals how the kids truly feel about their mother (she’s compared to Stalin and Mussolini), it’s clear a change has to happen. Thanks to a helpful suggestion, they decide to have a “Yes Day”, a day during which the parents say yes to everything the kids request (barring, well, illegal activities and anything outside a 20 mile radius).

In addition to dressing their parents in the most ridiculous fashion possible (it involves a lot of glitter), the kids – teen Katie (Jenna Ortega), the eldest, middle child Nando (Julian Lerner), and little Ellie (Everly Carganilla) come up with a list of five big things they want to do. The day starts with consuming a gut-busting serving ice cream for breakfast and going through the carwash with the windows down, and they only get crazier from there. By the end of this day full of “yes”, the parents might gain more than the kids do.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Yes Day is the kind of wholesome family comedy we don’t see too often these days. It brings to mind flicks like Cheaper by the Dozen, The Pacifier, RV, and Parental Guidance.

Performance Worth Watching: The whole cast – kids included – is wonderful here, but little Everly Carganilla steals the show as the youngest Torres, Ellie. Whether she’s screaming along to songs on the radio while in the car with her dad, directing her mother in a tacky fashion show, or pretending to be a bouncer at a “nerd party”, the little actor easily holds her own opposite some seriously experienced performers.

Memorable Dialogue: There are so many sweet, sentimental lines in Yes Day, but I Iet out a chuckle at “It’s like 1984 in this house, Big Mother is always watching.”

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: I knew I was going to say “yes” to Yes Day within its first ten minutes; The Purge, but, like, for kids? Yes. Jennifer Garner as a tightly wound supermom with an adventurous past? Yes. Édgar Ramírez cast totally against type as a goofball dad willing to twerk at the breakfast table with his kids? Yes. These are the central ingredients that make this sweet movie work, but they’re not the only ones. A good family comedy blends silly and sentimental, allowing for a rambunctious time and reeling it in by the end to remind us what’s really important in life. Yes Day does these things and more, indulging in some uproarious physical comedy (who knew Ramírez had it in him?!), moving mother-daughter moments, and kid-friendly spectacle that make the whole thing a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

It’s easy for a film like Yes Day to give into its more saccharine inclinations, but for the most part, Yes Day really keeps its eyes on the prize and lets its cast and their chemistry shine. Things certainly move quickly, and the characters don’t get a ton of time to really spread their wings, but they’re all having such a blast that it’s easy to overlook some of the film’s weaker spots. Even with a lot of familiar boxes getting checked off – Dad enduring increasingly outrageous instances of bodily harm, Mom having a big touching on-stage moment involving a musical cameo, etc. – Yes Day still works, and that’s a tribute to its giant heart and fabulous cast. Yes Day seems like it was so much fun for its cast to make, and it’s just as delightful to witness it. I admittedly went into this experience expecting to roll my eyes (or even cringe!) through most of the film, but I was pleasantly surprised by its playful, big-hearted nature, one that – in addition to its incredibly lean runtime – makes it a wonderful watch for the whole family.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Yes Day is a wholesome family film with some genuinely funny and moving moments, and it marks the beginning of a beautiful partnership between Garner and Netflix.

Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines and harboring dad-aged celebrity crushes. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.

Stream Yes Day on Netflix