I Love You, Philip Morris
Ewan McGregor and Jim Carrey in I Love You, Philip Morris
Tuesday, 16, Mar 2010 02:44
By Lewis Bazley.
Directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, out March 19th in cinemas, starring Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor, Leslie Mann, Rodrigo Santoro, running time 97 mins.
What's it all about?
After a near-death experience sees Southern policeman Steven Russell (Carrey) to have an epiphany and admit his homosexuality, the former church organ player moves to Florida and embraces gay life - though it soon proves expensive. Steven's penchant for fraud catches up with him and he is jailed, meeting the love of his life Philip Morris (McGregor). Desperate to make a life with Philip, Steven attempts a series of ambitious cons to secure wealth and happiness.
As an example...
"This really happened. It really did." - Opening disclaimer
"I'm gonna be a fag!" - Steven plans his new life
"Golf?? You're a homosexual!" - Philip
"(Sigh) It's for work." - Steven
What the others say
"Best of all, throughout this madcap yarn, Carrey's Russell is a fittingly unreliable narrator and thus pings the movie randomly through time in occasionally bewildering and ultimately exhilarating fashion." - Kevin Maher, Times
"Doesn't seem to know where it's going or why it's going there, and the result is an unusual movie that's entertaining but not particularly satisfying." - Joshua Tyler, CinemaBlend
So is it any good?
Its baiting of right-wing intolerance aside, I Love You, Philip Morris is a strange and sweet romance including a Jim Carrey performance that's both hilarious and moving. While its makers might claim this is a love story between two people who just happen to be gay men, there's no denying that the camp, sexually charged and expletive-laden screenplay is as potentially inflammatory as Ficarra and Requa's Bad Santa script. It's not a film for Daily Mail readers, if that wasn't clear enough from the premise, and a hilarious and graphic reveal of Steven's homosexuality will leave some easily shocked audience members choking on their popcorn. Some Carrey overacting also lessens the impact of the tenderness between Steven and Philip while his Virginia accent seems too much of an impersonation and the shifts in tone confirm the lack of substance at the heart of this nonetheless remarkable story.
But with some beautifully managed set pieces - alongside some surprisingly violent touches - and a character that lets Carrey confirm his ability to mesh physical and character humour with emotional depth, it's a fast and filthy true-to-life comedy. With a supposed death bed narration and a clever and pitch black screenplay that at times recalls the dysfunction of the novels of Chuck Palahniuk and Augusten Burroughs, as well as a convincing and sugary performance from McGregor as the naïve foil to Steven's deception, the movie never outstays its welcome.
7/10
Lewis Bazley