Jim Carrey’s big screen career consists of movies playing to his “Ace Ventura” base and reaching out to the art house crowd – but rarely at the same time.
“I Love You Phillip Morris,” which debuted Nov. 7 at the Starz Denver Film Festival, wants it both ways. It’s no wonder the film has bounced around the film release schedule like a sing-a-long marker.
You’d think the notion of America’s funnyman yucking it up as a gay con man might draw a crowd, but “Phillip Morris” can’t decide if it’s a flamboyant comedy or edgy love story. The film deserves an audience all the same, if only for the wackier than fiction story behind it.
Yes, it’s all true. Or so the opening credits tell us. Twice.
Carrey plays Steven Russell, a happily married cop with a secret. He’s gayer than gay Paris.
But he’s content to lead a double life until a car accident convinces him his lying days are over. Or, at least, his days lying about being straight are done. Steven is a con man extraordinaire, and the hustle he pulled on his wife (Leslie Mann) was merely his warm-up act. He starts swindling full time to support his fabulous lifestyle and quickly finds himself in trouble with the law.
He’s sent to jail where he meets the love of his life, Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor, even more bland than usual).
But can the duo survive Steven’s shell games? And, more importantly, will mainstream audiences get a kick out of Carrey engaging in gay sex as both comic relief and the source of the film’s love story?
“Phillip Morris” earns points for not shying away from its subject matter, and for Carrey’s ability to make us care for man with sociopathic tendencies. But the romance here is given too little attention. It’s love at first sight – and we don’t see the sparks. We’re told, rather than shown, the lovers in full bloom.
Not including the sex parts, that is.
The comic bits are often inspired, letting Carrey stretch his pliable frame for some slapstick gags while tweaking cultural norms that prod laughs and push the story along.
Glenn Facarra and John Requa, the screenwriters behind “Bad Santa,” sand down Steven’s nastier impulses for our protection. His ex-wife is depicted as a religious zealot, albeit a kindhearted one, and Steven’s duties as a father are barely addressed once he comes screaming out of the closet.
The film still resonates thanks to the remarkable story behind it, and it’s a rare case of a twist ending that unabashedly works within the film’s structure.
“I Love You Phillip Morris” will challenge audiences and force them to see Carrey in a more complicated light, which makes it a shame that the film doesn’t touch our heart – only our funny bone.
(Photo: Rodrigo Santoro and Jim Carrey star in “I Love You Phillip Morris”/Roadside)
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Ah, another example of Hollywood’s Sex Depiction Rule:
Depicting explicit straight sex = gratuitous.
Depicting explicit gay sex = art.
The Bad Santa screenwriters held back? Now what kind of fun is that?
I wouldn’t quite call the gay sex here art … but the film does have an art house feel – at times.
I saw it back in the Spring and the best way I can describe it is that it felt like 3 or 4 movies rolled into one. I can’t see a mainstream audience feeling too comfortable during the blatant sex scenes, but there are funny parts. Ewan MacGregor is definately not one of them, by the way. Old toast is more interesting. I did think that Jim Carrey worked his butt off trying to make it work, so there’s that.