The most incredible aspect of this film is its basis in the real life exploits of Steven Jay Russell, a legendary con man and prison escape artist. Unfortunately, the film and its protagonist share a common identity crisis. The movie cannot decide what it wants to be and constantly flits between romantic comedy, melodramatic drama, and a good old jim-carrey-makes-weird-faces farce.
I Love You Phillip Morris is the story of Steven, a highly charismatic, relatively amoral, goal-oriented, gay fraudster. Jim Carrey stars as our protagonist, and while he does get several opportunities to act as we're used to, it's a subdued performance. For Jim Carrey.
Steven is a chameleon. He loses his familial identity as a child when he discovers he was adopted. He adopts the persona of respectable church going heterosexual family man in order to work as a police officer and find his birth mother. She rejects him as well. And all the while, he carries on numerous affairs and flings in order to indulge his closeted gay identity. All this changes to some degree when he winds up in a car crash. He exits the closet and abandons his wife and daughter in order to move to sunny Miami with his newest male lover. But his extravagant lifestyle requires funding, which he is all too eager to acquire via various scams and deceits. Eventually, he winds up in prison, where he meets the love of his life, Phillip Morris, played by Ewan McGregor.
Jim Carrey is great at wearing multiple hats, so he shines as expected. He is best during the comedic segments and flounders a bit when required to put on his serious face. Ewan McGregor is lackluster as the submissive object of his affection, but the unattainable beloved of the protagonist is rarely required to have strong acting chops. If this movie were based on a hetero romance, Phillip (Phillipa?) would likely have been played by Zooey Deschanel. Wait, that was Yes Man. The other supporting characters are mostly unnoticed. This is a film about Steven, with a little bit of Phillip to mix it up.
The film transitions from highs to lows with great aplomb. From laugh out loud slapstick to why-am-i-watching-this cliched sappy romance. But it is definitely worth watching, if only to be amazed that it is based in fact. There are plenty of twists and turns and more than enough laughs to entertain. It's great to see a romantic comedy that's less conventional than most and actually takes some risks.
