I Love You Phillip Morris

I love You Philip Morris is an exceptional film, not because of the script, acting, or filming all of which are above average but simply because it seriously tries to take a homosexual relationship and show it as a heterosexual one and does so without the squirm.

Maybe the world still ain't ready (this is most under-reviewed of any Carey film on IMDb) but it is a good film.

With strong elements of humor, con tricks, prison, and a heart that is genuine, it is a very entertaining film.

Hopefully it is a ground-breaking film. It is enjoyable , has real depth, and you would need to be mean spirited indeed to find it repugnant in any way.

Go see, then complain.

Continuing my MIFF reviews, I saw this last week with a packed house at Greater Union.

Firstly, it has to be said that it's a tragedy that this film's general release has been such a stifled process. The entertainment value of this picture, its expert construction and superb performances cannot be denied.

Carrey turns in what is possibly his best performance in a decade. It's bizarre, the way that his signature antics actually enhance rather than diminish the dramatic aspects of this film, based loosely on real life events. In fact, for me, the movie trumps The Truman Show as Carrey's true coming of age as a performer of depth. Ewan McGregor is equally astonishing as Phillip Morris - you'd swear you were watching the kind of unique romantic chemistry between two actors that arrives very rarely in cinema, and virtually never between two A-listers playing gay lovers; but the love story is only a foundation for what emerges as a kinetic, superbly told comedy-drama about the real life exploits of con man and recidivist prison escapee Steven Jay Russell.

Directors/writers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa expertly handle the tensions of comic and dramatic performance and also prove to have a masterly touch with the frenzied action sequences. Bit parts are cast beautifully. You can see the attention to detail and craft in this movie.

It can only be assumed that the gay context of this film has cost it it's commercial potential in the eyes of distributors, because everything else about it spells box office success. Apparently, it will finally have a limited release in the US in October this year, with the potential of expansion.

Without spoiling any of the twists of the film's detailed series of events, the film succeeds at beautifully hijacking audience expectation time and again. Just when you think you've got the film pinned for being predictable, suddenly it flips on you with a wry smile as if to say, "I knew what you were thinking".

I'm not sure how close the producers stuck to the facts, but it scarcely matters. If 5% of this narrative is true, it would be amazing in itself. I would be happy if the film was complete fiction.

It's a wonderful, assured comedy and deserves wide commercial exploitation.

Surprisingly, I never expected to like this film as much as I have intended, since I viewed this film as a flunk. The film was just well executed, well paced, and not presenting anything unnecessary. The story is pretty interesting and it sticks to what needs to be told. There were never any moment in the film that took a detour, as it stayed on focus on what this film was about; every scene mattered and nothing was put into waste. I do not know how much of this was real or if Russell did everything for a gay lover, but the film does a good job of explaining and depicting the infamous prison escapee and portraying his intelligence. It was actually quite fun to watch as you follow the character falling in love and fooling around him, in order to get the things that he wants.

There are not as much exploitations as you see in "Milk," but do expect at least few gay sex scenes. Despite the exploitations, I really liked how the director didn't overuse scenes that involved the gay couple because it really would have ruined the film for me. Adding these scenes in various parts of the film, really feels like the film wants to be funny by adding potty humor. You will only see less than a few of these scenes, one is quite exploitive, by the way; however, the director didn't focus on adding more of these scenes, only focusing on what needed to be portrayed on the film.

This is categorized as a comedy, but I will say that don't expect for some non-stop laughter. Not everything that you see is laugh out loud funny, but it is comedy that you can watch and actually enjoy without having some non-stop laughter. Personally, the only comedy that I found laughable was watching how Steve Russell, portrayed by Jim Carrey, escapes from prisons numerous of times. The real Steve Russell is known for being the Houdini of prison escaping and you see why he received that nickname. It is very comical to see all of these escape routines that Russell will do and you will see something different in every escape attempt. Each one of his escapes were well-thought, smart, and unique as you see a different escape attempt each time and will never see the same attempt used again.

You have a small cast for this film and I thought everyone was pretty good in their roles. Ewan McGreggor was actually good as I never expected him to even consider to portray a character in this type of film; he is not a bad actor and was good as Russell's gay lover. Now, the person who did steal the show was Jim Carrey. This is not the Jim Carrey that you have seen in his 90's comedy flicks, but this is Jim Carrey acting and using his talent that made him famous, to portray the character. You'll see that Russell is a smart character and have succeed in multiple prison escapes and Carrey was great as the role. I thought to myself that Jim Carrey was near perfect for this film because of the characteristics of his character. You have to have a character that is capable of fooling people by being able to do countless of voices, impersonations, and doing the impossible, in order to escape; what better actor than Carrey to take on this role..

This film is definitely not in the same level of funny as you see in "The Hangover," but watching these numerous escape routines and watching Russell fooling the people around him brings in some humor. A good cast , great performance by Carrey, a decent storyline that was executed quite well, and a smart character that was able to escape countless of times, made this film surprisingly enjoyable.

Just when I thought Jim Carrey couldn't surprise me anymore, even if he tried...bang! "I Love You Phillip Morris" Here Jim Carrey creates the most complex and complete character of his career. A bisexual co-man of all things. An amoral guy who finds love and when I say "finds" we see him finding it. The romantic entanglement of Carrey and McGregor is a real first because we, even the ones who don't quite get the same sex thing, gets it. I saw the love between this two men and I believed it. "Brokeback Mountain" was easier to believe because the tragedy filled with deceit and self loathing fit perfectly with what I, and many others I suspect, believe that kind of union may involve. Here I saw romance in Ewan McGregor's eyes. His disbelief that somebody loves him is out of "The Nights Of Cabiria" - I will certainly see this again.

When a movie pushes your preconceptions out of the window, surprises you, enlightens you and on top of that it entertains you, you have a great movie. "I Love You Phillip Morris" is that kind of great movie. Daring, fresh, moving and funny. Jim Carrey, this time, takes us for an unusual ride and I was part of it before I knew what hit me. I think this is Jim Carrey's best performance and made me wonder what other surprises he has up his sleeve. The love that blooms in jail between Carrey's character and Phillip Morris - a sensational performance by Ewan MGregor - is so profoundly vivid that I was taken by their own strangely innocent affair and went with them all the way. I found myself tearing up and rooting by this two winning misfits. I will recommend you to push your own preconceptions out of the window and have a great time at the movies.