Review of I Love You Phillip Morris (2010) by Gerardistheway — 21 Aug 2016

In my previous review for Paul Thomas Anderson's "Punch-Drunk Love", I stated that it was both my favorite romantic comedy and perhaps the only one in the genre that I truly enjoy. The first statement still holds true, but I must redact the second, as I had completely forgotten about this movie.

The story follows Steven Jay Russell (Jim Carrey), who lives a seemingly cookie-cutter life as a church organ-playing police officer in the cookie-cutter town of Virginia Beach, complete with with a beautiful family: wife Debbie (Leslie Mann) and a daughter named Stephanie who we see for all of five minutes in the movie. Yet everything is not as well as it seems, because Steven struggles with two key pieces of his identity; the first is that he's adopted, and when he finally manages to track down his mother her rejection prompts him to quit the police force and move to Texas, and the second is that, well...He's gay (we learn this in a completely unexpected moment that will both amuse and possibly disgust). Following a near-fatal car crash, he reveals this to his family and moves yet again to Florida where he lives a high-end lifestyle with a Hispanic boyfriend (Rodrigo Santoro). One problem, though, as Steven puts it: "Being gay is really expensive." So he resorts to stealing and pulling scams in order to fund the life that he wants, and when he's eventually caught he tries to avoid prison by first attempting suicide (which fails miserably) and then attempting an escape (which fails even more miserably). In prison, however, he meets the man of his dreams: sweetly naive country boy Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor), and the misadventures that follow are make for endless laughs.

Though the story features two homosexual characters rather than a more conventional rom-com relationship, the poignant messages of love and dedication are still just as powerful, as everything Steven does (even the illegal things) he does to provide his partners with the life he thinks they want/deserve. He is constantly changing his identity to suit whatever the current situation demands (in the course of the movie he's a cop, a fruit salesman, a lawyer, Chief Financial Officer for a large medical supply company, etc.), and seems confused about who he is when we first meet him, which gives a lot of room for character growth and development that certainly happens throughout the movie, especially once he meets Phillip.

Carrey also narrates the movie from a first-person point of view, which makes for interesting and (oftentimes) hilarious tone juxtaposing whenever what he describes is opposite what is happening on the screen (i.e., when his "Jim Dandy" plan to avoid prison is to overdose on pills). There are plenty of sight gags in the movie, but unlike the ones reheated and recycled over and over again by the likes of Adam Sandler, David Spade, Kevin James, etc. (the list goes on and on), these ones are a bit more clever with an air of wit about them, and are oftentimes very funny (such as Steven attempting to jump from the roof of the hospital into a dumpster to avoid capture, before the camera pans over the edge to reveal he hit the street instead).

The cast is absolutely fantastic, and the two stars bring their A-game to the title role and the man after his heart. Carrey plays his con-man with such a convincing charm that you can't help believing everything he says (even if it isn't true), while McGregor, in addition to nailing his Southern accent, brings a vulnerability and naivety to Phillip that many of us have felt when we are in love. The relatability of these characters is perhaps the most endearing thing about them; Carrey, as Steven, represents human desires, in that he lies to Phillip and goes out of his way to impress and care for him, while Phillip represents our inhibitions, the side of us that wishes to open up but is afraid to do so until we know for sure we've met the right person (word to the wise, though: the person we believe to be "the one" isn't always automatically).

Overall, a sweet, delightfully offbeat rom-com makes for one of the better productions to have come from Luc Besson's Europacorp in recent years, as well as a deliriously funny "true" story you'll be watching over and over again. Just don't expect to find love so easily if you ever wind up in prison.