I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)

A cop turns con man once he comes out of the closet. Once imprisoned, he meets the second love of his life, whom he'll stop at nothing to be with.

Directors:

Glenn Ficarra, John Requa

Writers:

John Requa, Glenn Ficarra,

Stars:

Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor, Leslie Mann

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jim Carrey	...	Steven Russell
Ewan McGregor	...	Phillip Morris
Leslie Mann	...	Debbie
Rodrigo Santoro	...	Jimmy
Antoni Corone	...	Dan Lindholm
Brennan Brown	...	Larry Birkheim
Michael Mandell	...	Cleavon
Annie Golden	...	Eudora
Marylouise Burke	...	Barbara Bascombe (as Mary Louise Burke)
David Jensen	...	Judge
Dameon Clarke	...	Houston Lawyer
Nicholas Alexander	...	Steven's 11-Year-Old Brother
Clay Chamberlin	...	Cellmate - Arnie
Louis Herthum	...	Doctor
Morgana Shaw	...	Steven's Mom

Storyline

Steven Russell is happily married to Debbie, and a member of the local police force when a car accident provokes a dramatic reassessment of his life. Steven becomes open about his homosexuality and decides to live life to the fullest - even if it means breaking the law. Steven's new, extravagant lifestyle involves cons and fraud and, eventually, a stay in the State Penitentiary where he meets sensitive, soft-spoken Phillip Morris. His devotion to freeing Phillip from jail and building the perfect life together prompts Steven to attempt and often succeed at one impossible con after another.

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Plot Keywords:

fraud | prison | gay | jail | con man | 

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Taglines:

Do some time with the one you love.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content including strong dialogue, and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site (ru)

Country:

France USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 February 2010 (France)

Also Known As:

Una pareja dispareja

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$112,520 (USA) (3 December 2010)

Gross:

$2,035,566 (USA) (8 April 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

EuropaCorp, Mad Chance, Consolidated Pictures Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min 102 min (European Film Market)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jim Carrey shaved his hairline back because he thought of his character Steven Russell as a very cerebral person.

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Goofs

When Steven is leaving the private care facility the calender shown skips the 14th of the month.

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Quotes

Steven Russell: Sometimes you have to shave a little off the puzzle piece just to make it fit.

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Crazy Credits

The very end of the credits has a list of Thank Yous. The last two items on the list are Redbull and Xanax.

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Connections

References Matlock (1986)

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Soundtracks

"Techno Latino"
Performed by Chucho Merchán
Written by Chucho Merchán
Published by Extreme Production Music USA (ASCAP)
Courtesy of Extreme Music

User Reviews

Funny, Sad and True! (from May Nashville preview)

There's really only one thing you need to ask yourself before you see this movie: are you prepared to see Jim Carrey getting it on with Ewan MacGregor? If so, you should definitely go.

The movie tells the true story—and trust me, you'll have trouble believing it's true—of Steven Russell, a gay man who just can't stop conning his way through life. He uses his extraordinary abilities to gain a variety of jobs, gets indicted for embezzlement, and wins the love of the titular Phillip Morris while the two are fellow inmates in prison.

"I Love You Phillip Morris" was written and directed by Glen Ficarra and John Requa, the same writing team responsible for "Bad Santa". Like "Bad Santa", this movie effectively balances humor and with some very dark themes, though I would say the overall tone is not nearly as bleak as that of the earlier movie.

The writers told the Nashville audience that when choosing material to include from Steve McVicker's nonfiction book, they decided they primarily wanted to tell the love story. They do so very successfully. You might even call this the perfect romantic comedy for people who hate traditional romantic comedies: it's homo- rather than hetero-oriented, it's non-fiction, and it features a somewhat off-kilter con man as the romantic lead. Sounds bizarre, sure, and yet all these elements come together to make a really entertaining movie.

For the most part Jim Carrey loses himself in the character of Steven Russell, delivering an effectively non-hammy (and non-Carrey) comic performance. MacGregor's Phillip Morris is also believably innocent, Southern, and wide-eyed. Nice supporting performances, such as Leslie Mann's as Russell's ex-wife Deb, round out the movie.

Much of the romance takes place in prison, and this creates many beautifully absurd scenes. The movie also has its fair share of sad moments, and contains a pretty clear message about social justice in Texas -- as did the book-- but this is kept mercifully subtle, underlying rather than overshadowing the story.

The directors said they hoped the movie would make spectators laugh, cry and think, and the Nashville audience seemed to do all three. There were a lot of laughs but some definite sniffles at the appropriate moments. At the Q&A, there was a fair amount of interest in the real story, and Ficarra, McVicker, and Requa were happy to oblige with further information.

Come to think of it, you may not have to worry about seeing the two leads have sex. Although the love scenes were kept technically PG, the directors were expecting a fight with the MPAA because of the homosexual content. That's a real pity, but I hope they win.