Steven Russell was a gay man married to a woman. Once he decided to come out and leave her, he became a con artist, which eventually led to him getting caught and thrown in prison. This is where he met Philip Morris and they became lovers. What happened next involves dozens of escape attempts, multiple impersonations and a love story that is funny, depressing and real.
Jim Carrey has two film careers, the one where he makes his stupid faces and sings out of his butt and the other in which he goes the more dramatic route and gets recognized at the Golden Globes, but not the Oscars. With his latest film, he walks a very fine line of comedy and drama. I Love You Philip Morris, right from the start was going to be a hard sell to the movie going public. It openly featured gay men and gay relationships in the forefront. Jim Carrey's target audience isn't the same type who would probably go see Brokeback Mountain, another film that prominently featured two gay male leads.
After watching the film, I decided to look up how much of it was true, since the film opens with the words "This Really Happened...It Really Did" and to my surprise pretty much everything that Jim Carrey does in the film, the real Steven Russell pulled off. Steven Russell has received the nicknames of Houdini and King of Con. His outlandish attempts to get out of prison worked every time, no matter how bizarre they were.
Jim Carrey plays the role where he loses himself in the character. There are scenes that are truly dramatic and test his emotional depth, then there are scenes in which he has to throw himself down some stairs. As I said earlier, he walks a fine line of comedy and drama here. Ewan McGregor is Philip Morris, a shy, soft spoken blonde haired and blue eyed man who falls in love with Jim Carrey while in prison. He isn't given much to do until one emotional scene that requires McGregor to do some pretty intense stuff. He gives more emotion in one phone call in this film then he did in all three of the Star Wars prequels.
I Love You Philip Morris is tackled by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. Two writers in the directing chair for the first time. They don't shy away from the homosexuality of the film. It's never shy to show you what it wants to show you, if that involves Jim Carrey having sex doggy style all sweaty with a Freddie Mercury wannabe, then so be it. The film plays out with a sense of danger and excitement. Seeing the ingenious ways of how he escaped each time is interesting and fun to watch. The film handles both comedy and drama in a weird way. But based on how the real story happened, it was the best way they could.
I Love You Philip Morris is a funny film, at times. It's never a laugh out loud riot. It has a story to tell and it's a love story. The relationship between the two leads is more real than any romantic comedy you'll find this year. The problem is that it might get lost in the style of the film. It felt odd at times, not knowing when to be funny or not. This is a role for Jim Carrey and it isn't. This is a romance film about love, not Jim Carrey having a funny good time.
Jim Carrey has two film careers, the one where he makes his stupid faces and sings out of his butt and the other in which he goes the more dramatic route and gets recognized at the Golden Globes, but not the Oscars. With his latest film, he walks a very fine line of comedy and drama. I Love You Philip Morris, right from the start was going to be a hard sell to the movie going public. It openly featured gay men and gay relationships in the forefront. Jim Carrey's target audience isn't the same type who would probably go see Brokeback Mountain, another film that prominently featured two gay male leads.
After watching the film, I decided to look up how much of it was true, since the film opens with the words "This Really Happened...It Really Did" and to my surprise pretty much everything that Jim Carrey does in the film, the real Steven Russell pulled off. Steven Russell has received the nicknames of Houdini and King of Con. His outlandish attempts to get out of prison worked every time, no matter how bizarre they were.
Jim Carrey plays the role where he loses himself in the character. There are scenes that are truly dramatic and test his emotional depth, then there are scenes in which he has to throw himself down some stairs. As I said earlier, he walks a fine line of comedy and drama here. Ewan McGregor is Philip Morris, a shy, soft spoken blonde haired and blue eyed man who falls in love with Jim Carrey while in prison. He isn't given much to do until one emotional scene that requires McGregor to do some pretty intense stuff. He gives more emotion in one phone call in this film then he did in all three of the Star Wars prequels.
I Love You Philip Morris is tackled by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. Two writers in the directing chair for the first time. They don't shy away from the homosexuality of the film. It's never shy to show you what it wants to show you, if that involves Jim Carrey having sex doggy style all sweaty with a Freddie Mercury wannabe, then so be it. The film plays out with a sense of danger and excitement. Seeing the ingenious ways of how he escaped each time is interesting and fun to watch. The film handles both comedy and drama in a weird way. But based on how the real story happened, it was the best way they could.
I Love You Philip Morris is a funny film, at times. It's never a laugh out loud riot. It has a story to tell and it's a love story. The relationship between the two leads is more real than any romantic comedy you'll find this year. The problem is that it might get lost in the style of the film. It felt odd at times, not knowing when to be funny or not. This is a role for Jim Carrey and it isn't. This is a romance film about love, not Jim Carrey having a funny good time.