Jim Carey plus
Ewan McGregor in a true life adaptation about a gay conman and the love of his life, directed by two first timers and marketed as a slapstick-Carey comedy affair sounds like a veritable recipe for disaster, or a piece of divine genius. Sadly it is the former;
I Love You Phillip Morris is a confused, mishmash of genres and tones that despite Careys best efforts fails to form a cohesive and satisfying movie. Despite being woefully mis-marketed,
I Love You Phillip Morris, available now on
Blu-ray is for all intents and purposes a biopic of Steven Russell (
Jim Carey) a deeply confused, highly intelligent homosexual who throughout the 1980s and 90s undermined the Texas legal system, eluded numerous correctional facilities, conned his way into high-flying jobs and embezzled millions from fortune 500 companies before being sentenced to the 144-year life sentence that he is currently serving in solitary confinement. The film dithers for the first half hour which is fraught with voice-over from that doesnt inform us of anything deeper about the character of Steven than we are seeing on screen or have any comedic value and thus serves as a cinematic tool to assure the audience they are being quickly ushered through a painfully long prologue. We learn Steven discovered he was adopted at age 7, which made him determined to be the best man he could be a police officer, married to
Leslie Mann, with a child living in Suburbia. His fruitless attempt to reconnect with his mother inspires him to quit the force and move to a new state, where we then learn he is living a secret life of homosexual affairs. He survives a horrific car crash then becomes to come out start living the life of an openly gay man; that is obviously strutting around Miami, in a skin-tight t-shirt with a buff, Latino boyfriend on your arm. But Steven quickly realizes that living the Hollywood gay lifestyle is incredibly expensive and concludes the only way he can maintain this new style of life is to become a conman, which he does with great effect apparently anyone can do this.
Eventually the police catch up with Carey and he is incarcerated, which is where he first meets the shy, inoffensive, eponymous Phillip Morris (McGregor) in jail. Phillip quickly develops feelings for, which are reciprocated by the doting Phillip. Soon thanks to Stevens gift of the gab they are quickly sharing a cell and living the highlife, albeit behind bars. This rosy affair continues when Steven manages to manufacture his own release and then poses as a life and gets Phillip out earlier yes it happens that easy. Once on the outside Phillip gets employed as a top man at a major bank as you do and gives Phillip the sweet life mansion, cars, you name it. But it isnt long before reality intervenes; the law are on Stevens tale and the extent of his lies and deception are revealed to the straight-laced Phillip who refuses to be a part of it. For a movie that lasts for a mere ninety-two minutes (novel in a time when so many really dont take Shakespeares brevity is the soul of wit to heart) a great number of events are covered in the life of a man who lived more than most would in a thousand lifetimes. And while this succinct fashion of conveying an entire lifetime is daring, it is a huge failure, because vast periods, particularly the opening half hour, are not given sufficient attention to invoke emotion or build character and thus feel like back story that would have been better covered in conversations between Steven and Phillip which is the real crux of the movie that is not given the time or attention it deserves. There is also the issue of plausibility. Mark Twain once said that the greatest difference between fiction and reality is fiction has to be plausible, which at times I Love Phillip Morris struggles to be. Apart from the fact we are given no justification as to why Steven is so good at conning people, most of the time we are not shown the intricacies of his scams, thus it is hard for us to understand him. His early cons seem to be pouring vegetable oil over a supermarket floor and taking a dive, or jumping down an elevator shaft. Did they not have CCTV in the 80s? Was it as easy at it appears to get fake I.Ds back then? Or convince judges that you are a lawyer? Or become employed by a fortune 500 company? The justification that this was based on reality, as is stressed at the opening of the film and I mean stressed with this really happened It really did is scarce consolation. Refreshingly, however, unlike recent films such as Milk, homosexuality is not treated as a major taboo and the filmmakers have no agenda to highlight the prejudices in society or the struggles of a gay man. Carey and McGregors relationship is treated simply as any heterosexual relationship would be, which is perhaps a sign that Hollywoods perceptions of homosexuality is changing. Jim Carey has distinguished himself as an actor who is accomplished with comedy (Ace Ventura, The Mask, anything with the Farrelly Brothers), comfortable with straight drama (The Truman Show, Eternal Sunshine) and able to achieve a successful blend of the two, masterfully exhibited in the fantastic
Man on the Moon, where like in I Love You Phillip Morris, he played a real life individual. And much like in that film, here Carey is just as sublime, pulling off moments of great comedic wit and physical comedy while also capturing warmth, desperation and despair; indeed there is a point in the third act where if you were to remove yourself from this film and you might just shed a tear in unison with the heartbroken character of Steven. That is how powerful Careys performance is.
Less can be said of McGregor; though that is not entirely his fault. When he is on screen he has a tendency to be drippish and inept, almost as if he is uncomfortable in the role, which is odd for an actor who has been so uninhibited in his acting career. Perhaps this is because the character is introduced later than expected into the film and disappears for vast periods of time, not allowing the audience sufficient time to bond with him. The real fault lies with the writing and directorial team of Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, who after a mixed bag of shared writing credits
Bad Santa was a hilariously, cynical black comedy treat, while 2005s
Bad News Bears was just bad make their first foray into directing. While credit is due for the unique way they represent prison life colourful, unenclosed and romantic the consistent motif of clouds to represent Stevens dreamy, head-in-the-clouds view on life and some nice camera work to reinforce the ideas of deception that movie has throughout, their failure to identify the key drive to the story, establish a tone and style from the off and maintain a balance of this throughout the film is their major downfall and the downfall of the movie. This is a huge shame, because there was obviously a very original, very compelling story here with a definite heart. In the hands of a better filmmaker or indeed a filmmaker who established a consistent tone and style this could have been a potential classic. Instead this was a film that didnt know whether it wanted to be Milk or a Farrelly Brothers ode to homosexuality and thus a film that despite good intentions fails to provide a satisfying viewing experience.
Quality
The Blu-Ray transfer certainly does offer added depth and definition to the films sumptuous pallet of bright and glossy colours and the advanced sound offers much deserved clarity and quality to Nick Uratas fine score. Other than this the only obvious advantages I can find from viewing the film in Blu-Ray is to examine the wrinkles on the not-so-youthful-anymore Carey, or to try and spot the scar on McGregors face from the operation that saw his trademark mole removed. I was unsuccessful with the latter, which is perhaps credit to McGregors surgeon or the make-up artist on the film, or perhaps proof that Specsavers are correct and I am overdue a sight exam.
Extras
A pretty humdrum affair; there is a making of feauturette which includes the stars and directors giving insights into what attracted them to the project and what their intentions were. There are individual Q & A sessions with Carey, McGregor and directors Ficarra and Requa which offer a slightly deeper insight into each other their perspectives on the project. same enraged expressions when their partner fields a question. And theres also a chance to see the trailer that paints a movie that is far from the actual product; thus another chance to see why viewers reactions to I Love You Phillip Morris will either be that of horrid disappointment or shocking jubilation. Or sadness at a chance lost to produce something memorable, which certainly is the category my response pertains to. I Love You Phillip Morris is available on
Blu-ray.